Lines at Stevie are out of control

The lost look on students’ faces as they survey the tables in Stevenson is a familiar one, but this year it isn’t their friends that they can’t find: it’s an empty chair. Since the return of upperclass students to the Oberlin campus three weeks ago, it has seemed like Oberlin’s student body has increased dramatically from last year — at least in the dining hall. Returning students have been shocked to find lines emerging from the double doors at the entrance of Stevenson just to get through the card readers, and that’s before they have even seen the lines for food. Everyone knows that the Class of 2008 was one of the largest ever admitted to Oberlin, and now people are wondering if maybe there are too many students trying to eat in Stevenson without ResLife making accommodations for them. But the overcrowded dining hall may have its source outside Residential Life and Dining Services and students’ voices may have played a significant role in the process that led to their wait for plates at lunchtime.

It is true that ResLife’s policies have always encouraged students to eat at Stevenson Hall, especially in the last couple of years. Talcott shut down, and now the only other place to eat lunch during the week is Dascomb. But OSCA members can’t eat at Dascomb because their one meal a week can only be used at Stevenson. And then there’s the question of how many students are actually participating in OSCA this year anyway, as there were still spaces open in at least two of the co-ops when the school year began. Of course, there are still the off-campus students who are hopefully going home to eat lunch because they can cook for themselves and reducing the number of people shoving each other in the Classic Comforts line. Then again, off-campus students also have to participate in a meal plan and it’s much easier to cook dinner than lunch at home. The dining hall is just more convenient in the middle of the day.

But these policies were in effect last year as well, and the lines at Stevenson weren’t so long that students had to wait nearly ten minutes to even get through the door. So what has made the difference this year? The problem may in fact have its source in the College itself. The “community time” policy came into effect this year, and it may have created a larger community than the dining hall can handle. Community time in and of itself is a wonderful idea. Fewer classes during the lunch hour seemed like a dream to students who had been missing meals to go to meetings or to class. However, it also means that 500 more students on campus can now go to Stevenson at noon for lunch. And on top of the community time policy, many humanities courses that require “smart classrooms” have been moved into the Science Center because the science courses are holding their labs during that time. More people free at noon to go to lunch who have classes in the Science Center at 1:30 might just have chosen Stevenson for its convenient location.

Perhaps the students can learn a lesson about the way that a college works from their experience standing in line to get in the dining hall just to wait for a seat. Everything on campus has an effect on everything else; College course scheduling decisions can affect Residential Life and Dining, and maybe some changes or ideas that might seem to have no negative outcome at all should be seen in the light of the entire situation. The effects of “community time” can show us that Oberlin College really is an entirely interrelated community and that every single piece must understand its relationship to the others.–Editorial-in-Chief, Douglass Dowty- Managing Editor, Faith Richards- Commentary Editor, Casey Ashenhurst
 
 

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