FOOD

S trolling out of Observatory Hill Dining Hall with full stomachs, or even fuller carry-out boxes, a small audience of diners often gathers near the bulletin board plastered with yellow suggestions slips.

"We typically stop and review the comment cards about three times a week or whenever updated," first-year College student Carrie Keefe said. "The funniest ones are about calorie content and safety issues regarding the food served."

Many students flip through the sheets looking for responses to their comments or simply laughing at the humorous comments and responses.

"Today I found hair in my food, and the cups were really dirty," one dissatisfied customer wrote on a suggestion slip.

"Out of a group of eight people, we had three duplicate fortunes and the words 'in bed' could not be added to any of them," a witty student commented on fortune cookie contents.

Some students take advantage of the program by writing sarcastic comments, but others let dining services know such sentiments do not represent the views of most students.

"I think you are doing a wonderful job putting up with some of these suggestions," a genuine patron remarked. "I am sorry that these students are representing everyone so poorly because I think you are doing a great job."

While few people would refuse a home-cooked meal for mystery meat or soggy noodles at a dining hall, all University dining locations are equipped with suggestion boards in order for dining services to learn how to better serve the students. To replace the old system that began in 1986, where students would write comments on napkins and post them, the formalized suggestion board was added to dining hall locations in 1990. Students can pick up a yellow slip, write a suggestion, put it in the suggestion box and expect a posted response the following Monday.

"O-Hill is by far the busiest location, and throughout the year, we get thousands of comments, and almost all of them are posted," Dining Services Director Ed Gutauskas said.

A few years ago, a second bulletin board was posted at O-Hill in order to display all of the replies. The service, production or location managers are responsible for replying to the comments. Mora Sims, the location manager at O-Hill, said the suggestion box usually contains between 30 and 60 comments per week. She divides the cards among the managers according to subject matter, and supervisors review all comments at their weekly meeting. Hourly workers also can choose to respond to comments regarding their individual work areas.

Sporting a ponytail and a blue visor, Dean Caulfield has been swiping cards for students entering O-Hill since 1988. Because the box always is overflowing with suggestion cards, Caulfield chooses to answer comments directed at him to help out the managers.

"It is also better if it comes from my mouth so it is like an exchange instead of a bureaucratic system," Caulfield said.

The most frequent compliments Caulfield receives regard the speed of access into the dining hall and his friendliness.

"One of the key points of my job is to establish a rapport with the students at O-Hill to make their stay as pleasant as possible," he said.

Common complaints often deal with Caulfield's famous two-line system. When two doors are open, students who need a to-go box should go in the left line, and others can stand in the shortest line.

"Over the years, I have tried to become more relaxed about the two-line system, but when we are busy, the two-line system just works better," he said.

But, Caulfield is not alone in greeting hungry students with a smile. Students also are pleased to let Mary Clark swipe their cards before entering O-Hill.

"I have a lot of students that come up and say 'We like Mary Clark,'" Clark said while placing more to-go boxes on the counter. "I like to laugh, joke and talk to the students, and if they have any questions, I try to help them."

Last week, three students complimented Clark's hard work, and Dining Services awarded her gift certificates to the mall for her effort and dedication. In order for a member of the staff to be honored, a student must leave a name or contact information on the card.

"I post good comments in the back for other employees to see which will hopefully inspire them to provide excellent service," Sims said.

One suggestion card recorded a story about Ruby Dudley's helpfulness in providing an omelet while the omelet bar was closing up. "Luckily, Ruby saved the day and gave me my omelet," an appreciative customer wrote.

"Students are really nice, and it makes you feel good that you are helping," Dudley said while finishing her ice cream cone. "They say how good we are and how they appreciate it."

While comments range from genuine to sarcastic, Gutauskas said, "both compliments and complaints are taken seriously."

Sims said Dining Services aims to foster good communication with students and to let suggestion-writers know that their notes are read regardless of the subject matter and tone of the comment.

"If they are silly, we will sometimes put a silly answer because it has also become an entertainment issue," Sims said as she flipped through a stack of suggestion slips.

Some interesting comments that Sims recalls reading asked for nude, dancing girls and beer on Friday nights. She did say, however, that O-Hill served beer when the drinking age was 18.

Because the suggestion board strives to meet students' needs, Dining Services has made several modifications accordingly. Recent changes include the addition of nachos to the lunch and dinner menu, low fat salad dressing, soft serve yogurt toppings and fruit toppings at the waffle bar.

The biggest trend in changes has been the preparation of food in front of students. Pan Geos started almost five years ago at O-Hill and Newcomb. Center Stage was added this year and Fortune Cookie Cafe appeared only this semester at O-Hill.

Newcomb currently is undergoing renovations to create four stations where students can view the preparation of their food. Market Market will serve up-scale meat and potato dishes; Fresh Flavors of the Mediterranean will provide pizza and pasta; Tortilla will have Mexican foods; the Granary will feature vegetarian wraps and salads. The new stations should open this summer.

While changes are underway to meet student needs better, occasionally Dining Services cannot satisfy all requests.

For instance, the Pepsi supplier has stopped providing grape juice; however, "It doesn't mean that we are not still trying to get it," Gutauskas said.

There also have been many requests for straws, but straws may become tangled in the machinery if they are put on the tray-return belt. Dining Services now is working on providing V8 juice, marsh mellow cream by the peanut butter and jelly everyday, in addition to pot holders by the microwave.

The comment board holds responsibility for many such changes at O-Hill, and Dining Services will continue to review comments to changes for next year.

"The relationship between our staff and our customers has gotten closer," Caulfield said. "And once you know what people want, it is much easier to respond to their needs."