I can’t wait to hear the backlash about removing trays…

Who cares about the trays?..
What really matters is the price… It’s like $9 to get in! TOO EXPENSIVE!
I was there with my friends the other day. They all have meal plans, but I don’t (I’m independent from my parents).
I was embarassed, because I couldn’t afford paying that much and had to split up with my friends.

I wish they would take the option of healthy vegetarian/vegan food seriously. The options provided seemed to be rather fat-laden, rather than encouraging healthy eating.

I agree with th price. its ridiculous!!!!

When you compare our dining hall to other colleges, it has a lot more healthy eating options. I know that when I’ve visited College Park, I’ve felt like I was going to die of a coronary. They barely have healthy food options and salads cost a lot more than greasy hamburgers or french fries. I am pretty content with the healthy food options that our dining hall offers, except I wish that they would have tofu available every day as a substitute to their meat options.

And the price isn’t that bad when once again, you compare it to other colleges. Nine dollars for all you can eat? Better than the Commons, in my opinion. Unless you eat little, it is a pretty good deal. I’ve visited the Diner at College Park (their dining hall) several times and they have to pay for every piece of food that they put on their plates. And condiments. I had an omlette, waffle, and scrambled eggs there while my other friend got the same, and the last friend just got a bagel with cream cheese and it turned out to be almost thirty dollars (in terpbucks).

WHY are they buying two 60″ televisions? It was a waste of money to put in the flat panel TVs they have now. All year they’ve shown the same, pointless five slides. It was a waste of money to buy them and a waste of money to keep them on. The fact that these new 60″ TVs will be “wired for both an intranet display board” suggests we will be seeing the same thing, only larger. WTF?

Also, a lot of people “waste” food because it doesn’t taste good, not because they can put it all on a tray.

@ moneyinthedrain

I totally agree that the TVs are a waste of money so long as they aren’t playing anything interesting or useful. If they turn on a news channel or something, though, I think it’d be worth it. Agreed that many people waste food because it doesn’t taste good but some do take too much. moreover, People are liable to take less food they’re not sure they’ll like if they have to hike it all the way back to their seats with only two hands and without the benefit of a tray. It’s a small victory but a money-saver none-the-less.

IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE!!! MAKE IT AROUND $7, PLEASE!
I DON’T HAVE A MEAL PLAN!
EVEN THAT BUFFET IN DOWNTOWN CATONSVILLE IS CHEAPER THAN YOU GUYS!

I don’t like the whole health food thing!!!
I’m a big guy playing for the UMBC baseball team and have to eat a lot of meat to in order to get the required protein for effective strength and muscle workouts. But when I come to the Dining Hall, I often see all these salad and seafood options all over the place instead of the real food with some meat in it! We want more steaks, ribs, barbecue, burgers, beef patties, etc., and less of that green B.S.!
P.S.: And definitely lower the price or else soon you won’t have any customers!

to Dwayne,
I appreciate that you need protein for building muscle, but I think that you are misrepresenting your personal food preferences as your dietary needs. I completely understand the desire for meat, because I don’t know about you, but with the diet that I’ve grown up on, it’s hard for me to feel that a meal is substantial without meat in it. It’s also true that it is sometimes difficult to get all the protein you need for muscle building from legumes. However, as an athlete, I sincerely doubt that a nutritionist would tell you that you need more ribs. For one thing, seafood is in fact meat, and has a comparable amount of protein per ounce compared to red meat, and is generally considered to be a healthier alternative. Secondly, meat isn’t going to give you an adequate amount of all the nutrients that you need as an athlete to perform at your best. Basically, the dining hall is trying to present you with a variety of foods, and as an athlete, you should be taking advantage of it if you are sincere about maintaining your strength. Alternately, go eat at the grill in the commons if all you want is meat.

Um…I need to actually use the tray. I can’t juggle a plate of food AND a bowl of salad AND a glass of water AND a glass of milk AND some utensils all in both hands. I’ve tried, it REALLY doesn’t work. -_-

I’ll, I dunno, bring my own tray in with me somehow if I have to, but seriously, I NEED one! Every single time I’ve been in the Dining Hall I’ve needed one! That’s why I think the removal of the trays is a bad idea; I know I’m not the only one who gets more than a single plate and a single glass of something to drink at any one time when they’re eating a meal in the hall.

^^^^OWNED.

and i agree with ryan…if youre trying to build muscle and be an effective athlete, you definitley shouldnt be eating as many steaks, ribs, burgers, etc, as you can. LOL at your diet strategy

Well, what should he eat? lol
Salads, soups & cereals?! Good luck with that!.. lol
I’m a biology major I can’t see how one can build muscles without getting proteins from meat. So maybe Dwayne is right!

You know, stupid seating arrangements won’t make commuters go to dining hall more. Some of these are dumb answers.

By the way, sometimes when I go to the Dining Hall, I can’t find anything I like to eat. In the past, I would eat a burger with fries, but now, they don’t even have burgers anymore! Ehhhh

Again, not saying that protein isn’t a necessary part of a person’s diet, just that it isn’t the only thing your body needs. Also, the grill still has burgers. It’s kind of their thing.

I stopped eating at D-Hall. I have a shellfish allergy and am trying to watch my weight. I had to eat from the Kosher section in order to get anything resembling healthy food. Many times during the fall, there was shrimp or generally unsavory options to eat.

-I also need to point out the price. I’m lucky I’m in an apartment and can choose to not have a mealplan. That’s money I can better spend on making my own meals. A couple roommates and I pool our money together, eat well (with no less than three awesome dinners a week when there’s time to make it) and we spend LESS than if we went to the D-Hall

-I’m with moneyinthedrain; the D-Hall doesn’t need televisions for any reason. Would news be nice? Yes it would be, except that the news stations don’t deliver actual news. Don’t they still give newspapers there? If you can’t sit down and read your own news, then provide your own entertainment while eating there (the wireless internet will help with that.

-I’d be really surprised if Chartwells isn’t going to somehow try to pass on the costs of renovating the D-hall to the students, which is really a stupid idea. They chose to make those changes, they can bear the costs. If they can’t afford to make the changes, then they should develop a better business plan.