The former Wohl Center, which had housed Bear’s Den and Center Court, was demolished during the summer as the finishing touches were added to South 40 House and the new dining facilities.

“It’s pretty conspicuously in a transitional phase,” sophomore Stuart Davis said of the dining situation on the South 40. “It is a shame that they couldn’t offer something better for the students now as opposed to students one or two years down the road.”

The new facilities are also facing technical issues, including long lines and lengthy food preparation time.

“The food is better here, but it takes a lot longer for them to make it,” sophomore James Midkiff said. “I think it is going to be better when they finish.”

Some students think the longer wait time may result in a decreasing number of students who eat their meals on the South 40.

“I am definitely less likely to eat here,” said Davis, who plans to pick up meals each day on the Danforth Campus when he returns from class.

The administration is taking these issues in stride, according to Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit.

“A little pain this year will provide a huge gain in the future,” Siddiqui said.

Despite their shortcomings, the dining facilities are receiving praise from students for the new variety of healthy food available on the South 40.

“There are a lot of healthy food options, which I really appreciate,” freshman Julie Pfeffer said.

This is a common sentiment among other South 40 residents.

“I love the food,” freshman Jennifer Ibe said. I think it’s great they have such a wide variety of selections.”

Sophomore Lexi Klein said: “As time goes on, I think they will be improving the options and selection.”

Bear’s Bakery & Grill, a permanent facility located downstairs in the South 40 House, has a vegetarian station, grill station, sandwich station and bakery.

The lower dining area has seating for 60. New menu selections include falafel, puppy chow and other bakery items.

The unnamed, temporary dining area—located on the first floor of the South 40 House—houses the new Bear Mart, a salad bar, pasta bar, global station, taqueria station and kosher station. There is seating for 350 in this temporary section.

Students can attend a Center Court-style all-you-can-eat brunch on Saturdays and Sundays in the South 40 House’s upper dining facility.

“Six for $6,” the popular program which offers students six $6 value meals each day, will return for its second year as well.

Other changes to the South 40 dining situation include additions to the menus at Ursa’s. The veteran South 40 eatery now offers gelato and quesadillas in lieu of crepes. Wraps are still available.

The current South 40 dining facilities are temporary. The upstairs dining facility will be open only this year before being converted into office space and a kosher kitchen.

The downstairs portion will be expanded to include an Indian station, a Mongolian grill and a permanent Bear Mart. There will be seating for 600.

The facilities will be completed in time for the 2010-11 school year.

“It is going to be one of the top food programs and living and learning concepts in the nation,” Siddiqui said.

Phase I of construction on the South 40 will be completed with the opening of Umrath Hall and part of the new Wohl Center this fall. Left: Umrath Hall under construction this summer. Right: the architect’s rendered image of the finished building. (l: Matt Lanter | Student Life; r: Courtesy of WU Facilities)

With move-in day quickly approaching, Washington University administrators say construction of the long-awaited Umrath Hall and Wohl Center on the South 40 is going as planned.

“There are certain activities lagging, certain activities ahead of schedule, but we are overall on schedule,” said Steven Rackers, director of capital projects & records.

While masonry and landscaping are slightly behind schedule, some interior furnishing remains ahead.

Phase I of the construction will be done before fall move-in, according to Project Manager Nancy Marshall. This first phase includes the new Umrath and Wohl residential areas, a fitness center, certain stations at Bear’s Den, part of Bear Mart and a temporary dining facility.

Residential spaces will be ready for early move-in students, which includes freshman participants in pre-orientation programs, student advisors and resident advisors.

Phase II—which consists of the completion of the new Bear’s Den, an upgraded Bear Mart and College Hall, an assembly space for the residential colleges—will be done by August 2010.

Dean of Students Justin Carroll wrote in an e-mail that construction for College of Hall will start after the old Wohl is completely demolished. The University, he wrote, expects it to be done by fall 2010.

According to a description from the architecture firm Mackey Mitchell and Associates—Umrath and Wohl’s designers—the lower levels of Umrath and Wohl will feature student activity spaces to accommodate 3,000 residents and a new dining service facility.

“Modeled after European streetscapes, the site features an upper and lower plaza, which creates ‘outdoor rooms.’ Cascading stairs, ramps and a sloped garden lead from the adjacent parking garage to the lower plaza, creating a social heart for the residential neighborhood,” the firm’s description reads.

Due to the new Wohl’s LEED Silver certification, there will be other noticeable changes in Bear’s Den, such as china dishes instead of disposable ones to help reduce waste. The kitchen will use energy-efficient hoods to reduce energy use, and food wastes will be sent to a composter.

The loading dock near the dining facilities will be sheltered by a green roof that provides not only recreation space but also a vegetable and herbs garden for students to cultivate.

As for residential areas, Umrath will house 99 freshman students and three upperclassmen resident advisors. Sixty-eight of these students will live in four-person double suites joined together by a shared bathroom, 21 will live in triple units, and 10 will live in double units.

Three residential advisors and 125 upperclassmen will live in the new Wohl building. Of these, 108 will live in four-person single suites, six in three-person single suites, two in a two-person single suite and six in individual double rooms.

Wohl and Umrath’s future residents say they are looking forward to the changes that the new buildings will bring to the South 40.

“I think the new building will better the look of the South 40 since the construction will be over,” senior Brandy Randall, an RA on Umrath 4, wrote in an e-mail. “Once new Wohl is complete it will bring about new eating options as the cafeteria choices will be enhanced and the variety of food will increase.”

The excitement is enhanced by prospects of a new residential college—formed by Rubelmann Hall, Umrath and Wohl.

“Adding Wohl and the upperclassmen to a once freshmen-only residential college will diversify the types of programs we put on,” said senior Rebecca Shareff, an RA on Umrath 3. “With a new res-college comes our new mascot, the Red Umbrella Whales, and a huge source of pride and energy.”

The kitchen inside the new Wohl Center will be able to serve more than 3,000 people. (Kat Zhao | Student Life)

As members of the Class of 2013 prepare to make Washington University their new home, Dining Services is scurrying to finish the new dining facilities on the South 40.

The new Wohl Center, currently under construction, will house the new dining facilities. The former Wohl Center, where most of the South 40’s dining facilities were located, was demolished in mid-June.

Amid student concerns, Bon Appétit insists the quality of the food options offered on the South 40 will not suffer from the transition.

The new Wohl Center will be built in two separate phases—the first of which will be finished before August move-in. The first phase will house both permanent and temporary dining facilities. A permanent dining facility will be completed with the second phase to replace the temporary one.

The new dining hall is set to offer many of the same options previously available at Bear’s Den, including a bakery, grill and sandwich station in the permanent section, along with a tacquería, salad bar, global station and a hot kosher station in the temporary facility.

A temporary Bear Mart also will be available for the 2009-2010 school year.

Ursa’s will be the only South 40 dining facility to remain unaffected by the changes.

“It is going to be one of the top food programs and living and learning concepts in the nation,” Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit, said of the new facilities.

The second permanent wing, which will open for the 2010-2011 school year, is set to house an Indian station and a Mongolian grill.

In 2010, the temporary facility will be replaced by offices and a kosher kitchen—the first of its kind on campus. Until this point, all kosher food items have been prepared at the nearby Hillel House and delivered to campus.

Vegetarian options will be broadened next year as well. The dining facilities will have a separate grill and fryer for vegetarian food. Plans are underway to have at least one vegetarian option available at each food station.

“I think that having the separate fryer is a good option. Seeing my food touch meat is a personal turn-off to me. That’s really good that they are trying to be more sensitive,” said junior Meghna Srinath, a vegetarian.

All of the food in the new dining hall will be served a la carte. Though there will be no replacement for Center Court, a brunch buffet will still be available on weekends.

Incoming students expressed enthusiasm about the new dining options.

“I think that what will be there in 2010 makes the transition worth it,” incoming freshman Tori Wesevich said.

Dining Services will be allowed to move into the new Wohl Center beginning on July 16, leaving workers a month to prepare the facilities in time for the projected mid-August opening.

“I think the milestones that have been set to make sure this will be handed over July 16 have all been met, so I am less nervous,” Siddiqui said. “We’ve just got to be flexible, just got to keep an open mind. We continue to tweak and we continue to adjust.”

Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit, said that there will be a temporary first-floor dining area during South 40 dining’s transition period next academic school year while the second half of the new Wohl Center is built. (Evan Wiskup)

Over the past months, rumors have circulated on the Washington University campus about the dining options available to students residing on the South 40 next year.

The current Wohl Center is scheduled to be demolished this summer. Of the current dining facilities on the South 40, the only that will remain open next year is Ursa’s Café.

Despite the scheduled destruction of the South 40’s major dining area in Wohl, replacements for Bear’s Den and Bear Mart will be located in the new Wohl Center.

Those in charge of planning said students’ ideas have been taken into consideration in the process.

“The interesting part for me is that I think we know from you what you think,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appétit. “We are still flexible in making some changes and adjustments to take care of the students for next year.”

The construction of the new dining facilities will occur in two phases. The first phase includes the construction of permanent and temporary dining facilities in the section of the new Wohl Center that is currently being built.

The second phase of construction involves the placement of a new wing for the dormitory where the current Wohl is located.

Next year will be one of transition for Dining Services. The basement floor of the new Wohl Center will hold the first elements of the permanent dining facility, including stations for the bakery, grill and sandwiches. There will be seating for 40 in this permanent facility.

There will be a temporary dining facility on the first floor of the new Wohl, which will house several more stations for a tacqueria, a salad bar and a hot kosher station. A temporary Bear Mart and seating for 300 will also be located in this part of the facility.

The temporary dining facility will be eliminated for the 2010-2011 school year. A kosher kitchen and various offices are expected to fill its space. An extension of the permanent facility will be built in the new wing of the Wohl Center.

“It is going to be one of the top food programs and living and learning concepts in the nation,” Siddiqui declared.

Food options will be broadened after adding the extension. These new options will include an Indian station and a Mongolian grill.

There will be no replacement for Center Court in the new facilities. Meals will be served a la carte only. A brunch buffet will be available on Saturday and Sunday, however. The dinner buffet option will be eliminated due to decreasing sales observed at Center Court.

Varied options for vegetarians will be available in upcoming years. Currently at Bear’s Den, vegetarian meals are prepared on the same grills as their non-vegetarian counterparts. The new dining facilities will feature a separate fryer and grill for vegetarian options. Plans are also underway to have at least one vegetarian option at each of the stations in the future.

Sophomore Meghna Srinath, a vegetarian, said she has seen her vegetarian food touch meat at Bear’s Den.

“I think that having the separate fryer is a good option, “ Srinath said. “Seeing my food touch meat is a personal turn-off to me. That’s really good that they are trying to be more sensitive.”

Kosher meal options are also being expanded. The kosher meal plan is being eliminated in an effort to make kosher food more accessible to students not on the plan. Hot kosher options will be provided daily instead of the prepackaged meals now offered. The kosher food provided on campus now is prepared at the St. Louis Hillel.

Starting in 2010, the permanent kosher kitchen in the new Wohl will allow for greater variety and freshness in the kosher options.

The University also hopes to continue its green streak with the new Wohl Center. The building is expected to be certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver.

Measures taken to make the dining facilities more environmentally friendly include the installation of power-efficient cooking equipment. Chinaware will be available for use beginning in 2010 to decrease the use of disposable tableware.

Tori Wesevich, a prospective freshman, said she does not mind that the dining situation will not be ready in its permanent condition when she starts at the University in the fall.

“I think that what will be there in 2010 makes the transition worth it,” Wesevich said.

Not everyone, however, is as enthusiastic.

“I don’t see why they have to tear this [Wohl] down,” said Brittany Esmaeli, an employee at Bear’s Den. “I haven’t heard the students complain about it.”

Regardless, the era of Bear’s Den and Center Court is in its final weeks. Construction of the building will be completed by July 15, when Bon Appétit will begin to set up the new dining hall.

“It is kind of bittersweet,” said Rick Turner, director of operations for Dining Services. “Bear’s Den has a history here with the students. It will be sad to see it go.”

According to representatives from Mackey Mitchell, the architecture firm heading the projects on the 40, concrete surewalls and steel frames have already been put up for the new Wohl Center and Umrath Residential Hall. This phase of the project will be completed during the next academic year.

Meanwhile, most facilities currently in the Wohl Center will play the construction version of musical chairs. The mailroom and the fitness center will have temporary locations in Umrath, while a temporary dining spot, similar to Center Court, will be in the new Wohl Center. Bear Mart will also be located there.

Along with the temporary eateries, the Wohl Center will feature a bakery similar to Panera and a grill with more traditional items like burgers and chicken tenders. Future plans include a market that will feature local and natural items, much like Whole Foods.

Although dining options will be limited next year, the University is looking into the possibility of using Ursa’s and the Danforth University Center (DUC) to extend their operating hours and meet demand.

Students have expressed the need to have 24-hour service available; the University said that they recognize this and are considering it.

“I think the 24-hour service is a great idea. Right now, we only have Bear’s Den at certain hours of the day, and if we’re on main campus, there’s very limited service,” freshman Jackie Patmore said.

The architectural style of the new Wohl and Umrath buildings will be in the same vein as Lien and Gregg residential halls, with student activity spaces, such as student businesses or University-run organizations like Cornerstone, on the ground floor, and student dormitories above.

In addition to that plan, new ideas for student activity spaces include an auditorium and a fun room similar to the one in the DUC. The walkway from the main campus to the South 40 will reach into the “heart” of the residential area—the Swamp—in order to further develop a social and comfortable atmosphere.

“The goal we were given by the administration for this project is really to create that wonderful, animated outdoor street—like a European street—a lively, vibrant street,” an architect for the project said.

But the atmosphere is not the only thing concerning students who are aware of the logistical concerns that accompany construction projects.

“I hope that the University also tries to focus more spatially. I think they underestimated the need for space in the DUC so I hope there will be adequate space in these new facilities,” Patmore said.

For students interested in learning more about the construction and development of the South 40, there will be a presentation hosted by the Senate with Mackey Mitchell architects and Dining Services administrators on Thursday, Jan. 22, in the DUC next to the fireplace.

//

Washington University students waited for up to three hours Tuesday to cast their ballots—many for the first time— and in contrast to past years, encountered few problems along the way.

While students voting in the Wohl Center stood in line for one hour to vote, voters at local churches and other locations often faced waits hours longer in the sun.

Freshman John Moynihan, a South 40 resident who went to the polls for the first time, expressed his sense of excitement in being able to vote.

“I actually did take a second to sit down and say, ‘Okay, I’m actually filling out ballot for the President of the United States’. I was glad to participate, finally,” Moyihan said.

Moynihan decided to vote in Missouri, primarily on account of what is happening in the state.

“I’m going to be living here for the next four years, so I looked more toward local issues, but [Missouri being] a swing state had something to do with it too,” he said.

Although many University students, who largely supported Sen. Barack Obama, voted as Missouri residents, others decided to vote in their home states.

Freshman Tyler Jackson, a Maryland resident, also voted as a Missouri resident in the Wohl Center. Like Moynihan, Jackson stated he voted in Missouri because he felt doing so would have more impact, as Missouri is a swing state.

Jackson did not express any dissatisfaction with the voting process.

“It was pretty easy, I didn’t have to wait long at all. I expected [waiting], but I can say I’m pleased,” Jackson said.

Although Friedman Lounge hosted only three electronic-voting machines, voting officials also made paper ballots available to student voters.

Junior Paul Cheh from Washington, D.C. said that although the voting process at Wohl generally ran smoothly, he and other student voters had to stand in line for well over an hour to cast their votes. Cheh observed about 200 people in line during the morning, even as early as 8 a.m.

“A lot of other people had the same idea to go pretty early,” he said. “It was about an hour and 15 minutes’ wait, and once you got into the polls it was pretty quick and painless.”

However, Cheh noted that voting officials may have been able to streamline the process.

“Some of the lines were a little confusing,” he said.

While students like Cheh voted as Missouri residents, others, such as junior and Maryland native Michelle Bernard, submitted absentee ballots for their home states.

Bernard, however, remained politically active on Election Day, volunteering for Democratic candidate for Missouri lieutenant governor Sam Page, who lost the race to Republican incumbent Peter Kinder.

“I didn’t really get the experience of going into the polling place, but it was fun and exciting. I think this entire election is one to remember for a lifetime,” Bernard said.

College Republican Josh Simpson, a Maryville, Missouri resident who voted absentee before Election Day, also volunteered. Simpson handed out literature for Kinder.

“It was crazy—college kids getting up at 6 a.m. to vote. And the rest of the day went pretty smoothly,” Simpson observed. “I think their voice [students’] is definitely going to be heard in this election, especially with our state in Missouri.”

While Bernard and Simpson volunteered for state candidates, Green Action member Peter Murrey, a sophomore, attempted to raise support for Propositions M and C. Proposition M, which proposed to raise funds for MetroLink, failed to pass; Proposition C, which proposed to support renewable energy sources, was approved.

Murrey, who voted at the Wohl Center, waited for one hour but found the process convenient, and was able to buy food from Bear’s Den.

“The line was very long, but it was worth it,” Murrey said. “We are going to get our voice heard, and politicians: You better be ready for it.”

In the evening, as ballots across the nation were being counted, students gathered in the Tisch Commons of the Danforth University Center to watch the results of the presidential election.

“Watching it in the DUC has been great,” said Student Union (SU) Vice President for Administration Jeff Nelson. “It’s good watching it with friends, seeing who our next president and vice president are going to be.”

Senior Yewande Alimi, SU vice president of finance, who also sat in the crowd in Tisch Commons watching the race, expressed exhilaration at seeing Sen. Barack Obama sweep the presidential race.

“This is amazing—Barack Obama is the President-Elect. The fact that, one, an African-American is the President-Elected of the United States of America, and two, that it wasn’t just black people that voted for him, and three, Barack Obama is the President of the United States,” she laughed.

Alimi added that the victory contains a personal element for her, in addition to being nationally significant.

“It’s an overwhelming amount of people saying they’re sick and tired of the crap that’s been happening. It’s time, and I think change is coming,” she said. “This is amazing to be a student, an African-American woman, to be someone who can vote in this election—this is amazing.”

While both construction projects are proceeding on schedule, Carroll says that there are also plans to improve access around the construction sites for students.

A path will be laid out in between Rubelmann and Beaumont Houses, while another one will be laid out on the east side of the site near the Liggett-Koenig building.

Currently, students must either walk through the Wohl Parking Garage or between Beaumont and the JKL Residential College. However, students will soon be able to access the north side of the Wohl Center.

Carroll says that work has already begun on the foundations of the new buildings.

“I’m sure by the semester break we’ll see the steel up and the foundations in place and things starting to take shape. We’ll be able to occupy both Umrath as well as the first half of Wohl by next summer,” Carroll said.

Carroll said that construction projects at Washington University such as those on the North Side and the Danforth University Center have gone smoothly, and he is confident that the South 40 construction will as well.

“Village East came in ahead of schedule. We were able to get in and clean and move furniture in late July long before the students came back.”

Carroll also said that there are factors that cannot be controlled that will influence how quickly the construction will be completed.

“[The contractors] have their plan, and if we get a major fall rainy season or a big snow, that could throw things off, but they are on schedule to meet a deadline for us to be able to use [the buildings] by next fall,” Carroll said.

After the buildings are completed, Rubelmann and the existing Wohl Center will be removed. Work on the structures, however, may experience delays as safety remains the top priority during the construction project.

“Safety has been the number one thing mentioned time and time again by the University. That is the foremost important thing we are concerned about. It’s stressed every meeting,” Carroll said.

The excavation will be completed in the coming weeks, which means that there will be less truck traffic from the construction site.

“The contractor is supposed to provide somebody there to help people get around. They have people keeping an eye out for students’ safety and making sure that pedestrians don’t interfere with the trucks and vice versa,” Carroll said.

Despite the presence of these safety personnel, Carroll stresses the importance of students taking some responsibility for their South 40 experience.

“I notice frequently that even though there is a sidewalk along Shepley, people are often walking down the middle of the drive,” Carroll said.

Another concern is that, due to the construction, more students are using Wallace Drive to get to the Danforth Campus. Carroll said that improvements have been made along Wallace Drive to facilitate that change, including an additional sidewalk, crosswalk and better lighting.

“If additional steps need to be taken to make it a safe place to walk, we can do that as well. If [students] go that way, we want it to be a safe way to travel,” he said.

Carroll said that he hopes fewer people will use Wallace Drive once the new paths are in place. The improvements to Wallace were added because of student input.

But Sophomore Ambrose Wu said that the construction makes it inconvenient to get around the South 40.

“I can’t get to Bear’s Den on my way back to my dorm. I have to go over by Liggett-Koenig. I’ll get used to it eventually,” Wu said.

“You could almost say Bear’s Den is my ‘den,’” Fox said while eating lunch with a few friends in the popular eatery.

The dining hall’s popularity may soon see a decline because, as of this past summer, Bear’s Den has implemented price increases on its food in an attempt to account for a recent surge in national food costs.

Hoping to help students through this nationwide shift, the University has raised the total number of possible meal points for all undergraduate meal plans by five percent. This move enabled students to purchase more points for their plans, allowing them to purchase as much food as they would have prior to the change.

“We’re not trying to make any more money for the University,” Assistant Vice Chancellor for Operations Steve Hoffner said. “We’re just trying to cover some of the price increases that have been passed to us.”

Although she may have to pay more, junior Kate L. Gallagher says her dining experience at Bear’s Den has not changed.

“I come to Bear’s Den almost everyday, mostly for breakfast and occasionally for lunch,” Gallagher said. “For me, I have to eat, so there’s not much I can do about it. The economy is not in my control.”

Sophomore John Menze echoed Gallagher’s sentiment. Though he visits Bear’s Den once or twice a day, Menze says he has yet to “even notice an incredible difference.”

The University is one of a number of institutions across the country that has been forced to adapt to the ever-changing state of the economy.

According to a recent brief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Consumer Price Index is expected to increase by about five to six percent in 2008. As a result, the schools have had to charge their consumers more in order to make up for these higher costs.

“Food prices in general have skyrocketed over the summer,” Hoffner said. “Weather problems, high oil prices result in much higher gasoline prices for shipping the food and increased worldwide demand for commodities.”

Hoffner explained that the increase in meal points, however, was an attempt “to try to soften the impact on students.”

“The five percent increase in points was an across-the-board adjustment giving students more dining service points than they would have had,” he said.

As a consequence of the five percent point increase, students pay five percent more when they initially purchase their plan at the start of the school year.

For example, the Square Meal Deal plan had 2,920 points. It now has 3,066, an increase of 146 points.

Following this academic year, the number of meal plan points is expected to stay the same. Bear’s Den will be replaced by a new set of dining facilities currently under construction as part of a new student center on the South 40.