VOICE OF THE VOICELESS

At Siena Heights University, we have a very nice campus, including the University Center where we dine.

To some students, though, they do not believe the food is up-to-par with the standards of how it looks. Those students have complained about the food here for some time now.

I personally have never had a problem with the food, but I also haven’t had it that much. So I turn to the students around the campus whom I knew had at least experienced an entire year of the food from the University Center (UC).

Some of their biggest complaints are:

• the food is bland
• it’s not nutritional
• the majority of it tastes the same
• it messes with their stomach

Some of the students’ least favorites are the pasta (sometimes), corn, macaroni and cheese, and also some of the vegetables. They don’t believe everything is bad at the UC, it just has a lot of ups and downs. They have a mongo station (like Mongolian barbeque) where you can build your own stir fry. Students I talked to believe the breakfast is most of the time good.

Fridays seems to be a lot of student’s favorite day to go to the UC. It’s burger night, so you can build your own burger at the mongo bar. I have personally experienced this day and I have to agree it’s my favorite day.

Students have told me they feel sick sometimes from how the food sits in their stomach after, also with how there are some “uncomfortable” bathroom trips. They believe they should have healthier choices for food for those athletes trying to stick to a certain eating regiment. They also believe they should have more variety in the food served on a daily basis.

This has become such an issue among students that the Student Government Council has recently begun the start up of a new committee run by students, with the goal to focus on the food here and the dining experience at Siena. Just an idea now, but if it is formed, it can benefit the students for years to come.

I had a conversation with Student Council President Charlie Ludlow about the new idea, and here are his thoughts about the food in the UC.

“The concept of what we are trying to accomplish is, poll student interest,” he said. “After we get interest, figure out what is good and what is bad, so not only to bring the complaints to light but to also figure out what good they are doing so we can also bring that to light. It’s the goal to improve it.”

Ludlow gave me a nugget that I thought was something students should consider: “The dining experience here is what you make it. Everything isn’t good, but everything isn’t catered to how you like it. Things are cooked for the majority. So when you have a lot of things around the cafeteria, try to make something out of it, if there is chili, fries, and cheese then try making chili cheese fries.”

In my opinion, Ludlow is the best representation of students’ hopefulness here at Siena.

Next week, I plan on taking it to the head of the food service, getting his opinion about how students feel, and his thoughts on the food.