DDS has made a step in the right direction by incorporating student opinion in its newly announced changes.
Nearly 2,700 students participated in the Student Assembly-sponsored referendum, and an overwhelming majority voted to cut DDS services rather than pay for a mandatory $800-per-term meal plan.
In response, DDS created a plan for Fall term that cuts and rearranges services to maximize student satisfaction and DDS profits.
Topside Convenience Store will have new extended hours during the weekends, as well as during reading and exam periods. The new hours are much more in line with student schedules -- according to a Social Life Task Force survey last year, more than 70 percent of students are awake after 2 a.m. on weekend nights.
In addition, new microwaves and self-serve food selections at Topside will provide students with an on-campus late-night dining alternative to Foodstop and Everything But Anchovies.
It was wise of DDS to make the cuts during times when Food Court is nearly empty and retain late-night dining hours.
Eliminating Food Court breakfast also makes sense since the Collis Cafe and the Courtyard Cafe seem capable of handling the breakfast crowd. Moving breakfast items from Food Court, such as omelettes, to the Collis Cafe maintains the variety of options that was previously available.
The return of an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch to Thayer will please many students who miss the once-popular Full Fare brunch. Although the new brunch will be served in Home Plate, DDS has promised similar offerings to those of the old Full Fare brunch.
Swapping Friday night dinner for Sunday night dinner at Home Plate is an intelligent move since Thayer is usually fairly empty on Friday but crowded on Sundays.
Students and DDS should use this constructive interaction as a model for future changes in the dining system.
