[2007] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: [Mit-talk] [UA-SCATR] New Card initiative
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jenn D'Ascoli)
Fri Jul 7 07:33:29 2006
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 07:32:56 -0400
To: Cathy Zhang <zhangc@mit.edu>, Jessica H Lowell <jessiehl@mit.edu>
From: "Jenn D'Ascoli" <jdascoli@mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <44AE21A9.8000705@mit.edu>
Cc: mit-talk@mit.edu, grace <gkenney@mit.edu>
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
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At McCormick, starting at some point during the past year (i cant
remember when), a new rule was made: you cannot take food out of the
dining room. Supposedly it was to be strictly enforced, but I cant
speak to that effect. they hoped to foster community by encouraging
students to eat together in the dining hall, thus they barred
students from coming in and grabbing food to go.
but really, all it did was decrease attendance. I brought a prefrosh
there in the fall, and it was pretty empty.
so, theoretically, students can eat in places other than the dining
hall at Mccormick...they just cant be eating food purchased at the
dining hall.
jenn
At 04:56 AM 7/7/2006, Cathy Zhang wrote:
>Could someone explain what happened at McCormick, about these
>"take-out options" that were eliminated, etc? I'm in Simmons, so
>I've heard about dining hall issues, but I've never heard about
>people not being allowed to eat anywhere other than the dining hall...??
>
>-Cathy
>
>Jessica H Lowell wrote:
>>
>>I don't think many people are opposed to dining halls themselves on
>>principle. The problem is that, for both financial feasibility reasons
>>and social
>>engineering reasons, dining halls are made mandatory. Of course, this is
>>something for incoming freshmen to consider when they're choosing a dorm, but
>>there are still concerns, and problems. Jeff, you lived in the dorms before
>>Freshmen on Campus; the problem of FSILG frosh forced to choose
>>between losing
>>money on their forced meal plan or losing valuable bonding time with their
>>house didn't exist then to nearly the extent it does now. Whenever someone
>>comments on "dining halls", they're also commenting on the typical
>>implications
>>of dining halls on the MIT campus.
>>
>> From what I've heard about the situation in McCormick, from McCormick
>>residents
>>and others, Grace's comments about it are pretty on target. I bet that even
>>those who originally supported the dining hall there didn't forsee
>>that in the
>>future take-out options would be eliminated to force people to eat on site.
>>
>>- Jessie
>>
>>Quoting Jeff Roberts <mailto:thejoker@alum.mit.edu><thejoker@alum.mit.edu>:
>>
>>
>>>
>>>On 7/3/06, grace <mailto:gkenney@mit.edu><gkenney@mit.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>finally, the reinstitution of dining halls is recent, and it's been more
>>>>or less a top-down thing [witness attempts in mccormick to _force_
>>>>students to eat there.] in general, they haven't been an expression of
>>>>dorm culture - in places where dining is part of the culture, it's
>>>>generally the result of halls and suites having their own kitchens. the
>>>>imposition of a dining hall [along with a mandatory mealplan for the dorm
>>>>to ensure that it's actually used] is often a way to limit, rather than
>>>>increase student dining choices.
>>>>
>>>
>>>I've enjoyed reading this discussion and was going to stay out of it
>>>but this comment sort-of struck a nerve. I'd argue that residential
>>>dining halls do contribute to culture in a comparable way to
>>>hall/suite cooking; I lived in a dorm with an active dining hall and
>>>it was an important part of my social experience and a major part of
>>>life of the dorm. Maybe most of the people on mit-talk have a
>>>different experience with dining -- after all, only 3 (now 4 I guess)
>>>of the 11 dorms have dining halls -- but I hope you recognize that
>>>different dining experiences can contribute to different types of
>>>culture in different ways, and they aren't necessarily better or
>>>worse.
>>>
>>>I'd guess that a lot of alums and students feel the same way I do, but
>>>you're more likely to hear from those who feel that dining halls are
>>>bad (i.e. people who just don't like the food, or the atmosphere, or
>>>whatever else about it) or the system is unfair (i.e. FSILGs and
>>>people who pay the dining hall fee but don't use the dining hall that
>>>much).
>>>
>>>Having heard the same arguments over and over again, I've come to
>>>think that the persistent problem plaguing campus dining is that when
>>>it comes to food, everyone has different preferences and no one system
>>>is going to satisfy everyone, and yet if it doesn't satisfy everyone,
>>>people will complain. People like to cook meals or buy them prepared,
>>>eat alone or in groups, sit down and have a meal or grab something on
>>>their way to lab. That's not even getting into actual food
>>>preferences. Just about every dining facility I've ever seen on any
>>>campus has been panned for having terrible food, and yet there are
>>>always some people who will eat there all the time. People are
>>>probably more selective when it comes to food than almost anything
>>>else. Unlike restaurants, that can cater to different tastes, campus
>>>dining tends to aim towards the lowest common demonimator. As a
>>>result, hardly anyone is bound to praise it, while those who aren't
>>>satisfied will be compelled to complain. You could always try to make
>>>it better by providing more options, but the more you do that the more
>>>you have to pay, and where does the money come from? (answer: usually
>>>it comes out of students' pockets, one way or another, until someone
>>>comes up with a better option ...)
>>>
>>>I doubt any of this was helpful but maybe it provided some food for
>>>thought. Ha! Get it? Ughh.
>>>
>>>Jeff (who realizes that I need a "non pretentious" filter more than
>>>anyone ...)
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>MIT-talk mailing list
>>><mailto:MIT-talk@mit.edu>MIT-talk@mit.edu
>>>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mit-talk
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>MIT-talk mailing list
>><mailto:MIT-talk@mit.edu>MIT-talk@mit.edu
>>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mit-talk
>>
>_______________________________________________
>MIT-talk mailing list
>MIT-talk@mit.edu
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mit-talk
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<br>
At McCormick, starting at some point during the past year (i cant
remember when), a new rule was made: you cannot take food out of the
dining room. Supposedly it was to be strictly enforced, but I cant speak
to that effect. they hoped to foster community by encouraging students to
eat together in the dining hall, thus they barred students from coming in
and grabbing food to go. <br><br>
but really, all it did was decrease attendance. I brought a prefrosh
there in the fall, and it was pretty empty. <br><br>
so, theoretically, students can eat in places other than the dining hall
at Mccormick...they just cant be eating food purchased at the dining
hall. <br><br>
jenn<br><br>
At 04:56 AM 7/7/2006, Cathy Zhang wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Could someone explain what
happened at McCormick, about these "take-out options" that were
eliminated, etc? I'm in Simmons, so I've heard about dining hall issues,
but I've never heard about people not being allowed to eat anywhere other
than the dining hall...??<br><br>
-Cathy<br><br>
Jessica H Lowell wrote: <br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><br>
<pre>I don't think many people are opposed to dining halls themselves on
principle. The problem is that, for both financial feasibility reasons
and social
engineering reasons, dining halls are made mandatory. Of course,
this is
something for incoming freshmen to consider when they're choosing a dorm,
but
there are still concerns, and problems. Jeff, you lived in the
dorms before
Freshmen on Campus; the problem of FSILG frosh forced to choose between
losing
money on their forced meal plan or losing valuable bonding time with
their
house didn't exist then to nearly the extent it does now. Whenever
someone
comments on "dining halls", they're also commenting on the
typical
implications
of dining halls on the MIT campus.
From what I've heard about the situation in McCormick, from
McCormick
residents
and others, Grace's comments about it are pretty on target. I bet
that even
those who originally supported the dining hall there didn't forsee that
in the
future take-out options would be eliminated to force people to eat on
site.
- Jessie
Quoting Jeff Roberts
<a href="mailto:thejoker@alum.mit.edu"><thejoker@alum.mit.edu></a>
:
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><br>
<pre>On 7/3/06, grace
<a href="mailto:gkenney@mit.edu"><gkenney@mit.edu></a> wrote:
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><br>
<pre>finally, the reinstitution of dining halls is recent, and it's been
more
or less a top-down thing [witness attempts in mccormick to _force_
students to eat there.] in general, they haven't been an expression
of
dorm culture - in places where dining is part of the culture, it's
generally the result of halls and suites having their own kitchens.
the
imposition of a dining hall [along with a mandatory mealplan for the
dorm
to ensure that it's actually used] is often a way to limit, rather than
increase student dining choices.
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font></blockquote><br>
<pre>I've enjoyed reading this discussion and was going to stay out of
it
but this comment sort-of struck a nerve. I'd argue that
residential
dining halls do contribute to culture in a comparable way to
hall/suite cooking; I lived in a dorm with an active dining hall and
it was an important part of my social experience and a major part of
life of the dorm. Maybe most of the people on mit-talk have a
different experience with dining -- after all, only 3 (now 4 I guess)
of the 11 dorms have dining halls -- but I hope you recognize that
different dining experiences can contribute to different types of
culture in different ways, and they aren't necessarily better or
worse.
I'd guess that a lot of alums and students feel the same way I do, but
you're more likely to hear from those who feel that dining halls are
bad (i.e. people who just don't like the food, or the atmosphere, or
whatever else about it) or the system is unfair (i.e. FSILGs and
people who pay the dining hall fee but don't use the dining hall that
much).
Having heard the same arguments over and over again, I've come to
think that the persistent problem plaguing campus dining is that when
it comes to food, everyone has different preferences and no one system
is going to satisfy everyone, and yet if it doesn't satisfy everyone,
people will complain. People like to cook meals or buy them
prepared,
eat alone or in groups, sit down and have a meal or grab something on
their way to lab. That's not even getting into actual food
preferences. Just about every dining facility I've ever seen on
any
campus has been panned for having terrible food, and yet there are
always some people who will eat there all the time. People are
probably more selective when it comes to food than almost anything
else. Unlike restaurants, that can cater to different tastes,
campus
dining tends to aim towards the lowest common demonimator. As a
result, hardly anyone is bound to praise it, while those who aren't
satisfied will be compelled to complain. You could always try to
make
it better by providing more options, but the more you do that the more
you have to pay, and where does the money come from? (answer: usually
it comes out of students' pockets, one way or another, until someone
comes up with a better option ...)
I doubt any of this was helpful but maybe it provided some food for
thought. Ha! Get it? Ughh.
Jeff (who realizes that I need a "non pretentious" filter more
than
anyone ...)
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</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font></blockquote><br>
<pre>
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</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font></blockquote>
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MIT-talk mailing list<br>
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<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mit-talk" eudora="autourl">
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