Need to tell someone that cheesecake is the love of your life? Want to let someone know about your Calculus woes? Desperate for more ice milk? Wondering who can address all these questions and more? The answer is here -- the dining hall managers!
While some students might get through the dining hall without giving in to the heavenly ice milk or delicious cheesecake, they simply cannot leave without at least glancing at the suggestion board. A source of information, an outlet for expression and, best of all, a supply of innumerable laughs, these suggestion boards are a crucial fixture in University dining halls.
But while many take the time to read the posted comments and even supply some of their own, far fewer take a look into exactly who the advice-givers really are.
O'Hill Operations Manager Mora Sims explained that she and other dining hall managers and specialists address the suggestions as they see fit.
Flipping through the suggestions she just picked up from the table outside, she commented on who each suggestion would be passed on to.
"This one [about the 'amazing tomato and garlic pizza'] -- I'd give that to my executive chef," Sims said. "This one [about the cheesecake], I'd copy and send to our central bake shop. If it's something about the cereals offered, I'd give it to the production manager who handles orders. The nutritionist [would get the suggestions] about the fat grams in ice milk."
Indeed, the comments and suggestions are taken very seriously.
"We read every single one of them," Sims said. "If we find a trend, we'll try to change a menu. We want it to be just like home."
Students are always eager to supply suggestions to help the dining halls achieve this goal.
"My board isn't big enough this year," Sims said. "When you get this many, it's kind of daunting, but we get a chuckle out of the ones we're supposed to get a chuckle out of."
And, as anyone who has glanced at the suggestion boards knows, there are plenty of those.
"One of the funniest [I've seen], the student asked 'Do you serve cat?'" first-year College student Megan Ribeiro said. "The response was 'How do you like it prepared?' and the student wrote 'With rice.'"
Sims said the crazy comments and questions range far and wide -- she has even gotten requests to go out on dates. But unfortunately, it is not all fun and games. Sims recently had a student write that he or she was feeling depressed.
"Sometimes [such comments] are written in jest," Sims said. "But there's a fine line. I try to err on the side of a professional. I don't want to blow anyone off."
To many students, this fact is obvious
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