Tuesday, November 11, 1997
Hershey Hall food problems ire residents
DINING Housing officials cite building’s age, lack of funding as
reasons for delaying renovation
By Hala Ali
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Residents of Mira Hershey Hall and the Hilgard Houses say they
routinely check for mold before taking a bite of their pizza at the
Hershey dining hall.
And they also claim they occasionally suffer from "intestinal
distress" because of the food.
A lack of resources, a small budget and a possible lack of
attention may have left Hershey and Hilgard residents with poor
living conditions, according to both residents and officials.
Housing officials, however, deny neglecting the two residence
halls and say they are doing the best they can within their
budgetary means.
The assistant director of dining services and
cafeteria-management officials have been meeting weekly with the
student government and staff, as well as any other resident with
complaints.
The loudest complaints have been voiced regarding the dining
facility of the two residence halls, which mainly house graduate
and transfer students.
Residents claim finding bugs in their food, mold growing on
bagels and on the bottom of pizza, hair in their yogurt, hot food
served cold and vice versa – the list continues.
"I haven’t heard any of those comments. If these problems exist,
the student should contact a food manager immediately so we can
pull the food," said Mary Niven, director of dining services.
According to Niven, the staff has made some positive changes in
the food service, including exhibition cooking twice a week and
upgraded equipment to hold food at the right temperature.
However, some students don’t feel the changes are enough.
"The food quality is garbage," said Meredith Larsen, a
third-year biochemistry student and Hilgard resident. "We get the
bizarre pieces of chicken – necks, backs."
Larsen says she has contacted the Health Department about the
problem and is waiting to hear from it. Sasha Goodman, internal
vice president for Hershey and resident representative of Hershey’s
Food and Environment Committee, claims to have found bugs and hair
in his food, and complained of pink, undercooked meat.
Residents made other accusations regarding the handling of food
and the cross-contamination of dishes. However, Hershey
dining-services officials refute accusations of food troubles.
"The food is fresh every day," said Ray Anciano, the
dining-services manager for Hershey. "If it wasn’t, we should have
been shut down by the Department of Public Health by now."
According to Anciano, the Health Department made a surprise
visit to the Hershey facility last Wednesday. He says that no
violations were found.
Despite his assertions, residents are still concerned with the
quality of food they are eating.
"We have met with everybody about this," said Ruben Garcia,
president of Hershey Hall. "The food is not up to par."
The variety of food provided in the cafeteria is also a major
concern of the residents. According to Larsen, the brochures
describing the residents’ meal plan said that they would have as
many as 10 different entrees to choose from.
"We have yet to see any one of those," Larsen said.
Niven believes that Larsen was mistakingly looking at the Rieber
Hall menu. Niven also added that, besides the regular entrees, they
provide grilled items as well as specialty items.
"Hershey’s menu has a significant variety of entrees at every
meal. Hershey has about five or six entrees at lunch and dinner,"
she said.
Vegetarian dishes could pose a challenge to dining officials as
well. According to Garcia, soups that are supposed to be vegetarian
contain meat, and Italian foods that are supposed to be vegetarian
have meat sauce.
But with thousands of students to feed – some are vegans and
some are vegetarians who will eat dairy products – providing dishes
that are acceptable to everyone can be a difficult task.
"We can’t offer a vegan item every day, but we continue to work
with students to balance (their needs)," Niven said.
But the problem may lay more in the the funding and management
of Hershey and Hilgard, and less in the kitchens themselves.
"The cafeteria is trying, but they don’t have the staffing or
structure like the other dorms," Garcia said.
Many students believe they are being cheated out of their money
because they pay as much as for housing and meals as the residents
of other facilities.
Hershey has fewer resources, skimpier facilities and a smaller
budget, even though its residents pay from $5,200 to $6,600 per
year – the same as the residents on the Hill.
"This represents a financial hardship for me and my housemates,
as we are being held hostage by our dining plans," Larsen said.
Goodman speculates that the reason for the disparity is the
larger number of undergraduate residents, who may have more money
to spend. There are fewer graduate students, and they tend to rely
more on grants and financial aid to pay their tuition and
housing.
Because Hershey Hall was built in the 1930s, it does not have
the capability to house the more modern equipment available in the
newer halls. This modern equipment, according to Goodman, includes
pizza ovens, grills and dishwashing machines that scrub the dishes
well.
Renovations to upgrade the facility to accommodate new equipment
may cost up to $20 million. In addition to the other renovations,
including retrofitting earthquake damage, this could be one of the
reasons that UCLA is tearing down Hershey Hall next year.
The Business & Finance Department has been "very
indifferent," Garcia said. "They have the attitude to let us scream
as much as we want because Hershey is going to close in nine
months."
Anciano, the dining-services manager, does not seem to pay much
attention to these discussions. He says that B&F is renovating
all the dining halls in segments.
"Hershey’s turn is going to come," he said.
In the meantime, many of the residents have taken action to try
to solve the food problems themselves.
The Hershey Hall government has set up a food hotline and an
e-mail address for residents to report any problems they see with
the food or any illnesses that they believe may be connected with
the food. They are also in the process of developing a Web
site.
According to Garcia, many people have complained to both
hall-government representatives and the dining-hall management, but
the only way these problems can be addressed is if the residents
know the specific date and time of the incident.
Anciano has also tried to ensure that student concerns are
heard. He meets with the Food and Environment Committee once a
week. His response to students who claim to find bad food is, "Put
(the complaints) on my desk."
However, Larsen argues that it is the dining staff’s job to find
bad food, not the residents’. As well as contacting the Health
Department, she and others at Hilgard have been keeping a log of
problems they see with the food.
Goodman will continue with his efforts to improve the quality of
the food and says he will support any sort of action. "(The food)
is a running joke," Goodman said. "I don’t want our food to be a
running joke."
Garcia agreed.
"We’re here to study," he said. "Why are we being taken away
from stuff that doesn’t need our attention?"