The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1989 Page: 2 of 16
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2 FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1989 THE RICE THRESHER
Opinion
Editors praise
Thresher staffers...
Today marks the last issue by Pat and me, and our last Rice class
day as well. We'd like to take this space to reflect briefly on our term
as Thresher editors in the context of the Rice Experience.
First, we would like to thank the dedication and long hours
contributed by our staff, especially the section editors. Week after
week, these people sacrifice free time (in addition to class time and
precious sleep time) to assign, edit, and layout various segments of
the newspaper. Without their meticulous and consistent effort, the
lliresher would cease to exist.
We would also like to give special praise to those involved with the
Wednesday night production effort. These people pull all-nighters
with us every week. Glance over at the staff box under "production."
Do you remember seeing any of those people looking like zombies on
Thursday mornings? There's a reason for that. Of course, there are
perks. Have you ever seen the cars they drive?
We would also like to thank you, our readers. Obviously, none of
us are professional journalists, or even journalism majors. We do the
best we can to abide by standard practice of accuracy in reporting and
responsible stylistic and ethical standards, but we are hardly above
reproach. Your comments are always appreciated.
...and comment on the
"Rice Experience"
looking back on my four years at Rice, it seems I have often heard
about the "Rice Experience," but I have never heard its definition. As
a graduating senior who has worked on the Thresher for four years,
I feel I am in a good position to attempt to elucidiate the ever-elusive
definition of the "Rice Experience."
For most of us, the Rice Experience involves coming to the
realization that we aren't the smartest kids on the block anymore, and
learning to make the most of what we have. It involves realizing our
limitations and having to visit professors for help. Fortunately, the
faculty realize this and they are highly accessible to students; I was
never denied help in an academic matter, nor was I turned down for
an interview by a faculty member.
The Rice Experience is non-activist, except when matters hit
home, such as a tuition increase. It is averse to change or even the
prospect of it, regardless of merit (SWC athletics, the backpage
layout, the honor code). It is naivete regarding our lenient alcohol
policy in comparison to other schools, regardless of how emphatic
the administration is about the prospect of more stringent rules if the
current policy is not followed. It is dissatisfaction with the college food
service, a dissatisfaction which may be the undoing of an integral part
of the Rice Experience, the college system.
The Rice Experience involves participation in intramural athletics,
which seems to draw more interest than intercollegiate contests. It is
a perpetual rebuilding year for the Owls and a spit in the face of big-
time, big-money college athletics.
The Rice Experience involves being goofy in some way—running
around campus wearing nothing but shaving cream and the esca-
pades of the MOB come quickly to mind. If you are not from Texas,
it is constantly answering the question, "So why the hell did you pick
Rice?" Interviewers especially like that question.
The Rice experience involves a dress code of a T-shirt and shorts
or jeans, except if one attends a formal, another key aspect of the Rice
experience. (If you are graduating and haven't gone to one yet, be
sure to attend the senior ball next week.)
Oh yeah, and the Rice Experience is homework sets, reading,
papers, tests, and final exams. Unfortunately, given the intellectual
caliber of students here, making the mean is no trivial matter.
The Rice Experience was better than I could have imagined. I don't
see how Princeton could have come close. I'm proud of this place and
am proud to have been able to serve the Rice community as Thresher
staff member and editor. I have learned about Rice, I've learned about
myself, and I've learned about others. Thank you for the opportunity.
Rice has certainly been an experience. 7 , 0 ,
-Joel Sendek
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CK requires constructive comments
Bill Boorom addresses students' complaints and questions
To the editors:
This is in response to Thresher
editorials and letters, comment
cards, and general queries regard-
ing Central Kitchen.
Initially, I would like to dispel a
few myths and misconceptions re-
garding Central Kitchen, and then
answer some of the most commonly
asked questions about Central
Kitchen.
Myth 1: Central Kitchen Makes a
Profit from the Students.
This is false. Central Kitchen
operates as a cost department. Reve-
nues are planned to cover expenses
only, and there is no profit margin.
We receive revenue from students'
meal plans. From that budget we pay
for our entire operation. This in-
cludes food purchase and prepara-
tion costs, repair and maintenance
costs, security costs, and food serv-
ice employee salaries and benefits.
Myth 2: Central Kitchen Makes
Money for the University.
Central Kitchen makes money
for College Food Service. Any profits
from catering or the sale of Chef
Steve's ice carvings, etc., are used to
offset College Food Sendee ex-
penses.
Myth 3: Higher Quality Food is the
Answer.
We already use high quality food.
What we are continuing to do is raise
the proficiency level of the college
staffs. I think Juniors and Seniors
would agree that the food is mark-
edly better than it was several years
ago. That improvement is largely
due to increased care and attention
to preparation of the food.
Why Are Base Costs as Much as
They Are?
Base costs cover all expenses of
College Food Service except food
costs, service supplies and sales tax.
Our college system, as it relates to
Food Service, is not the most effi-
cient means of delivering food and
service to students. There is an in-
herent cost in maintaining eight
kitchens and staffs. Also, we main-
tain eight crested china patterns for
the colleges at some cost.
Furthermore/College Food Serv-
ice must also pay its share of co sts for
services provided by other Univer-
sity departments; i.e., Physical Plant,
Campus Police, Personnel, Mail-
room, Accounting and Payroll Of-
fice, Waste Removal and Grounds.
The University charges Central
Kitchen almost $20,000 a month , 12
months a year.
Why Are the Mark-ups for Meal
Plans Disproportionate?
When we were deciding how to
handle cash transactions, we de-
cided that we must charge a service
fee to cover that cost of providing the
variety of food. Furthermore, we fig-
ured that a mark-up would discour-
age cash and encourage people to
purchase a meal plan.
It seemed unfair for students on a
meal plan to bear costs which the
cash students did not bear. There-
fore, we implemented a mark-up.
Unfortunately, as we've seen, de-
pending on how much you eat, an
occasional eater on the meal plan
may pay more mark-up than the stu-
dent who pays cash. We are trying to
find a happy medium which encour-
ages people to be on a meal plan and
yet does not place a disproportionate
burden on one group of students. If
there are any economic geniuses
who have some ideas for a solution,
please drop by Central Kitchen. I'll
be more than happy to discuss your
proposition and provide you with any
statistics you might need.
Why are Luby's, McDonald's, etc.
Able to Provide Similar If Not Higher
Quality Food at Lower Prices?
First of all, I don't think they do.
As far as I've seen, McDonald's does
not have the salad bars or variety of
food we offer. But nevertheless, this
question does merit a response. The
simple fact is that they do not have
eight kitchens to operate.
At Rice we have eight independ-
ent kitchens with no consistent fore-
casting. In other words, since any
student can eat at any kitchen at any
meal, there is no reliable way to pre-
dict exactly how many will eat at a
particular meal at a particular college
on a given day. Therefore, each col-
lege must be prepared to feed the
number of students at the high end of
the curve.
The result: a great deal of food is
wasted because the alternative could
potentially result in insufficient
amounts of food. Other universities
assigned students to a specific com-
mons for dining. At these universi-
ties, students are only allowed to eat
in one dining hall and consequently,
there is less waste.
Now would be an, appropriate
time to dispel another myth; I don't
support the college system. That's
ridiculous! I think that college sys-
tem is wonderful; in fact, I'm a bit
envious that I didn't have the oppor-
tunity to enjoy the college system
when I was in school. So, please
understand, the college system is a
unique food service concept. It is
part of the "Rice Experience" and I
certainly support it
SEE BOOROM, PAGE 3
Brown College member criticizes new university dining policy
To the editors:
Brown College has family style
dining once a week, on Thursdays.
The college voted on it. Although
having no family style at all received
the most votes, it didn't have a major-
ity and we compromised. So be it.
However, it has been decided
outside of the student government
that we will have family style two
nights a week, Monday and Thurs-
day, when all the colleges will be
eating family style. This was a com-
promise from the four nights a week
which were proposed, according to
last week's Thresher.
This seems wrong for the follow-
ing reasons:
1) When we do have family style
dining, the food usually costs more,
there is not always enough of it, there
are fewer choices, and it isn't all that
much better quality. (Even if it were,
we would still get another shot at it
the next day at lunch.) •
2) Family style is time consum-
ing. I'm all for sitting down and
talking to my neighbor at dinner, but
having to wait for half an hour from
the time you get a table to when the
food is served is a bit much. If I have
a paper to write, I don't have time to
sit for as much as an hour for dinner.
3) On Mondays, Tuesdays and
Wednesdays, people from all over
campus trek over to our Commons to
eat cafeteria style with us. We fill our
Commons with people who would
rather walk to Brown than to eat
family style at home.
This is a point I would like to dwell
on for a moment. What good is
family style eating for "College
Unity" if so many people are willing
to go to other Colleges, off campus or
to skip eating just to avoid it?
As a matter of fact, cafeteria style
does wonders for Brown. Our "Col-
lege Unity" is fine, believe me. But
four days a week, the rest of Rice
comes to us! Call it "University
Unity" if you like.... It may slow our
lines down, it may make it hard
sometimes to find a table, but it is
kinda nice to have the company.
On the other hand, enforcing
family style eating for all of the col-
leges will not drive students back to
the tablecloth and 30 minute salads;
it will drive them off campus and
away from the University as a whole.
If a Rice student today is willing to
walk across campus to eat cafeteria
style instead of eating family style at
home, McDonald's or Burger King
won't be that much more trouble
when there are no cafeteria style
dinners two days a week.
The students should be the ones
to decide whether or not to eat family
style meals. We should be able to
decide how many times a week to
hold family style, and if it is our Col-
lege's turn to host, we should be able
to go to another College if we want
Brown took a vote on eating
styles; the College's student govern-
ment made its decision. That deci-
sion should stand; it is the students'
decision, and the College's. All of the
Colleges should be able to chose for
themselves.
My point is this: Family style eat-
ing is nice in principle. It looks good
in college catalogs and on tours and
it is pleasant every now and then.
Nevertheless, it is slower and fre-
quently more expensive. It isn't that
much better, and it doesn't have
complete student support. The Uni-
versity policy shouldn't just be
handed down; let us decide how to
eat for ourselves.
Harlan Howe
Brown '92
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1989, newspaper, April 28, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245722/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.