Despite the College's claims of year-round operation, students enrolled on campus this summer are adjusting to the harsh realities of a campus inhabited by a quarter of the Dartmouth community.
Dartmouth Dining Services is among the most compromised campus services this term. Topside closes one hour and a half early this term, and Novack Cafe will only operate Monday through Saturday. The Hopkins Center will see decreased traffic on weekends as its popular Courtyard Cafe will not be open then. Even the campus's principal dining facility, Food Court, will operate on restricted hours, closing at 10 p.m. on weeknights and 9 p.m. on weekends.
Homeplate, generally a haven for healthy eating, will be exclusively dedicated to feeding the scores of campers at Dartmouth throughout the summer. The Thayer Dining Hall eatery will offer buffet-style American cuisine, including hotdogs, hamburgers and quesadillas among other more kid-friendly foods.
"It's simpler food -- food that kids would recognize," Associate Director of Dining Services Dan Newlove said.
Students familiar with the term said that the summer atmosphere makes such changes more tolerable.
"In the summer, you have more options. You tend to go out more, to like West Lebanon to eat," said Joanne Lee '06.
According to Newlove, the DDS changes are a necessity in a term when roughly one third of the normal number of students are on campus. Newlove added that despite DDS makes proportionally less money than it does on other terms during the summer.
"We usually break even," Newlove said, "In the summer we don't."
The saving grace for late-night eaters is Lone Pine Tavern, which has expanded hours during the summer. It is open seven days a week and is the only eatery open late in the evening.
"Lone Pine Tavern does very well over the summer," Newlove said.
Dining hours are not the only change students will face this summer. Intoxicated students picked up by Safety and Security face different protocol because the inpatient ward of Dick's House is closed during the summer. Instead of treating overnight detoxification, Safety and Security will give custody of the intoxicated student to a roommate or friend. Only if a student is found to be dangerously intoxicated will he or she be sent to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Kinne also said that he does not believe "that the numbers of people being transported to DHMC are proportionally higher than during other academic terms."
Students hoping to visit the fitness center will be able to do so for a longer-than-usual period of time this summer, though the gym's calendar is also contracted during the term. Unlike previous years, the fitness center will not close between 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. on weekdays.
Also unique this year, gym patrons will be redirected to what is known as West Gym as the Kresge Fitness Center undergoes renovation.
Cynthia Crutchfield, director of operations and facilities for athletics and recreation, said that while the space is not air conditioned, it should stay fairly cool.
"It's not as hot as Kresge was [over the summer]," Crutchfield said.
The Baker-Berry Library general collections desk is one of the few facilities that keeps the same hours during the summer. Library hours for other services, however, are limited.
"Library hours are pretty decent," recalled Claris Smith '06 from her sophomore summer. "And it's nice that it's air-conditioned."
