For most Binghamton University students, the college experience is marked by late-night adventures, late-night study sessions — and late-night cravings. Unfortunately, some of BU’s night owls are finding the campus cupboards bare when their eating patterns don’t fit a conventional schedule.
On-campus dining has likely been a point of contention among students everywhere since the inception of college itself. But here on BU’s humble campus, the culinary options are not as problematic as are the means to get to them.
“The dining halls really aren’t open late enough, especially on the weekends,” said Ashley Blonder, a sophomore pre-med and biological sciences major. “Usually, people eat dinner later, so it’s almost a rush to get to the dining hall before it closes.”
“You can’t get food anywhere except the overpriced [New University] Union,” said Andrew Fetherolf, a sophomore music major, sharing Blonder’s sentiments.
Binghamton offers 17 dining options to the University’s hungry masses, a number which may appear to be lacking when compared with other colleges served by Sodexho.
According to Bob Griffin, marketing manager for Sodexho at Binghamton University, the availability of on-campus dining — that is — the hours and selection of the dining halls, the food court and the coffee kiosks, are “based upon budget costs” for operating them.
“The operating schedule is a collective decision based on a monstrous review a couple years back,” Griffin said.
An addition of extra hours to any of these venues would result in what Griffin describes as a “meal plan impact,” something which he says has been turned down by committees in the past.
“If the customers aren’t coming, then there really isn’t a point — and that is really what drives it,” he said.
Unfortunately, many students don’t understand, much less care about the nuances of dining coordination after a full day of higher education, and aren’t entirely satisfied with Sodexho’s logic.
“I understand that people don’t want to work late on the weekends, but it’s still really inconvenient for students,” said Blonder. “Personally, I love the pasta stand from the [New] Union, but it closes so early that I never have time to go there.”
“Well, Hinman [Dining Hall] changed to 8 p.m. on Fridays, so I won’t complain about that,” said Anthony Delplato, a sophomore physics major. “But 7 p.m. on Saturday? That’s bull — the dining hall hours are absurd.”
Blonder, who eats in the dining halls at least once a day, seems to relate.
“Sometimes I eat off campus, but I usually prefer to save my money. On Mondays, I have lab until 9 p.m. and by that time the only thing open is the [New] Union, so I find myself having to eat either Chinese or Taco Bell when I really don’t want to,” she said.
In many cases, the issue at hand is not Sodexho’s closed doors, but rather its empty salad bars and quiet grills, which stop operating hours before other stations. Many students have complained that what is left makes it hard for even the most well-trained nutrition-nut to adhere to their precious food pyramid.
Such an issue is apparent in the paradox between Sodexho’s recent table-top campaign for a healthy “mind, body and soul” (the inspirational little cardboard trifolds that preach the merits of crossword puzzles and urge students to eat black-eyed peas) and the midnight cholesterol emporiums many consider the Night Owl eateries to be.
“The only option on a Saturday night is to order in,” Delplato said.
Griffin expects much of the antipathy regarding on-campus dining will be quelled next semester with the upcoming addition of Sbarro in the Union and further-off renovation of College-in-the-Woods’s dining digs.
As for the possibility of a customer-driven amendment to Sodexho’s schedule, Griffin says he’s listening.
“If there are a lot of calls, we do take a look at that stuff,” said Griffin. “Some people like to demonize us. In many cases, we accommodate the students.”