First, I must agree with you ("Let them eat bread," Sept. 15) that the monitor's action, in that particular incident at South Dining Hall, is a bit overboard. Most employees at South Dining Hall that I have met are generally very nice towards students.
During my freshman year, I once walked out with two apples in my hand because I did not know the policy "take one item with you." However, the lady at the door just pointed me to the policy written on a sign and let me go with two apples.
Second, I think that your call to re-examine the above policy and your fear of "backpack checks and strip searches" are unfounded. The university is actually preventing food waste by limiting the consumption of dining hall food to just inside of the dining hall. If students think they can take out some food, they would take as much as they can, and then waste it in their dorm rooms.
This actually happened to me and my roommates during the final exam week. We stocked up on all kinds of fruit from the dining hall in our fridge and in the end no one would eat them.
I think this situation is quite common. How many times did you think you would eat that leftover food from the restaurant, and in the end forgot about it? The policy, as it is now, causes students to be aware of how much they are getting on their tray. However, they are still wasting a lot of food.
The university cannot prevent food waste in both the dining hall and our dorm rooms, so they are doing their best by focusing on the dining hall and by implementing the current policy. We should support the university by eating more responsibly at the dining hall.
The need for late night snacks can be solved with Flex Points, because many of us never use up our Flex Points anyway.
Regards,
Do TrangThanh
sophomore
Alumni Hall
Sept. 15
