Real Food On Campus at Umphrey Lee got some new cups. These cups are bigger than the old ones, and are also plastic. They rock!
Bigger cups make it easier to get more beverage at one time, without having to waste extra glassware by using multiple glasses. Also, using plastic cups is safer, because if they are dropped, they won’t break. Using less glassware also saves dishwater, dishwashing detergent, reduces electricity costs from the dishwashers and lowers labor costs.
Too bad dining services probably will not lower the cost of meal plans even though they are saving a lot of money. One piece of advice to all you RFOCers out there, don’t abuse the new cups. Ed Board highly recommends only taking enough beverage to quench your thirst.
If people start wasting beverages, dining services will probably revert back to the old glasses. On that note, Ed Board stresses that while the dining halls are “all you can eat,” patrons of RFOC and Mac’s Place should not take more food than they intend on consuming.
Ed Board feels the next cost-reducing step dining services should take is to make the entrance process more efficient. If dining services were to install a set of turnstiles at the entrance of each dining hall, they could put the people that work at the door to other work. Also, having a mechanized entrance would help alleviate the backlog of customers that have to wait to get into RFOC and Mac’s Place during peak hours. Turnstiles are faster than having one or two employees swiping cards when there is a long line of people waiting to get in.
Aside from peak hours, there usually is just a person sitting around being unproductive and getting paid to swipe an occasional ID card. If a set of turnstiles were installed, there could be different lines for paying with Poni or flex dollars and for those with remaining meals on their plan.
For people wishing to pay cash, they’d have to get the attention of the dining attendent. They’d have to wait longer, but the cafeterias are primarily for students, right?
Good job with the new cups, RFOC. Now, let’s work on some other ways to save the students some money.
