To the Editor:
In response to the op-ed, "Starving Sophomore Summer," (June 29) I must emphatically state the obvious. Summer term is a full academic term, sans the normal enrollment of students. Therefore, just like the course offerings, the selection of dining services during this term is accordingly scaled down. It is naive and, frankly, ignorant for anyone to expect Dartmouth Dining Services to operate at full capacity with only a fraction of its normal revenue and patronage.
I can certainly relate to the plight of starving sophomores. One of my biggest disappointments last summer was discovering that I'd be deprived of my own dietary staples, turkey burgers and tuna skewers, for ten long weeks due to Home Plate's closing. However, limited dining hours are yet another annoyance of sophomore summer, and this op-ed's gripe has been heard countless times before. Perhaps the author and fellow complainers should take a break from their alcohol-induced hazes to assess the reality of the situation and to call EBAs, buy some ramen at Topside or take a short walk to Foodstop or Lou's when it opens at 6 a.m., right when their pong games end. If they were really starving, I'm sure they'd be able to think of an adequately satisfying solution.
Finally, I'd like to ask about the comment on Lone Pine Tavern's functionality. Amidst the rant that Lone Pine is merely a "quiet watering hole," which is wholly untrue if you've ever patronized the place after 11 p.m., the piece states, "On a recent evening, a friend of mine waited nearly an hour for a hamburger at Lone Pine through no fault at all of the Lone Pine staff." If it was not the staff's fault, then who was to blame for that long wait? Maybe the customer isn't always right.
