Health-conscious students will soon, with the push of a button, be able to get the nutritional information about the meal they just ate at Thayer Dining Hall.
The changes Dartmouth Dining Services plans to implement next term include a nutritional information kiosk in Thayer Dining Hall and delivery services to the East Wheelock supercluster.
DDS Director Pete Napolitano said DDS will basically continue with its same venue through the academic year.
"We prefer to do changes in the fall," he said. "But we are using input to evaluate what we have now."
Napolitano said he has ordered a new $8,000 machine, which will provide diners with total nutritional information about DDS foods.
"Students can punch in what they've eaten for lunch and dinner and get a total nutritional readout," he said.
Napolitano said Dartmouth is a test site for the new computerized machine, which normally costs about $16,000.
"We have always had students interested in what goes into their bodies and what kinds of nutritional information we can provide," he said. "This is just another enhancement to that."
The supercluster snack bar will have a new ordering service implemented next term, Napolitano said.
"The East Wheelock snack bar has its good days and bad days," he said. "It is an area where the program has to complement the food."
He said DDS will try to have "specialty nights" for the delivery service. Each night of the week would have a food that could be ordered on an hourly basis for delivery from Food Court.
For example, if Monday were pizza night and a student ordered a pizza by 10 p.m., it would arrive by 11 p.m. at the snack bar, Napolitano said.
Some suggested specials include pizza, chicken wings and sandwiches from the deli, Napolitano said.
Napolitano said of DDS during Fall term "for the most part things have been successful."
"We would like to see an increase in sales," he said. "We are up over last year, so we are bettering what we did last year."
Napolitano said sales at Collis Cafe have still been declining this term.
"Most things in Collis are the same and still sales continue to decline," Napolitano said. "Our mission is to increase the traffic in Collis."
"We've had some real big success stories at the Cafe," Napolitano said. "The smoothies have been a big success. We've been dabbling with the salad bar a bit but we've ... gone back to way it used to be."
Napolitano said the move of the Collis deli from the Cafe to the Lone Pine "met with a little bit of cynicism by student body."
"I have been there lately and students have actually had a nice meal, sandwich, soup and conversation," he said. "There is actually a line down there. Students are becoming used to the idea and making it work for them."
DDS has ordered a new computerized register for the sandwich deli at the Lone Pine Tavern to speed up the service.
Napolitano said Westside Buffet has experienced substantially more daily traffic than Full Fare did last year.
"It is moving along pretty good," Napolitano said. "We're doing 350 to 390 [students] every day. Full Fare did on average 200."
Napolitano said sales at Westside have dropped since the beginning of the term.
About 450 to 500 students a night ate at Westside at the beginning of the term, Napolitano said.
"We are planning to have specials next term to break the monotony like cartoon night ... and a special dessert night," he said.
The new Cafe North located at the Kellogg Cafeteria will have some items added to and eliminated from the menu next term, Napolitano said.
"We tried to be all things to all people and it is a small place so you have to eliminate some things," he said.
Napolitano said DDS plans to move the cafeteria's vending machines to the lower level to make space for a small salad bar.
