Dining Employees Put up in Hotel to Feed Campus
February 8, 2010 • By Megan Martin,
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — As JMU canceled all classes and many other services Friday, Dining Services had to be ready to serve students despite inclement weather.
Dining Services announced changes to the hours at many of its locations. D-Hall, E-Hall, PC Dukes, Mr. Chips, Jemmy’s, Mrs. Green’s and Lakeside Express were open for regular hours Friday and Saturday, while Festival’s hours were reduced. All other locations were closed. Sunday, D-Hall, E-Hall, Mr. Chips, Jemmy’s and Lakeside Express had regular hours as PC Dukes opened from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Since we had advanced warning for this storm, we were able to plan ahead,” said Stephanie Hoshower, Dining Services resident district manager. “The decision on which locations will be open is based on location and capacity of service. We try to pick larger locations to keep open so that we can serve as many students as possible.”
Since meal plans are also offered to students who don’t live on campus, their travel must also be considered.
“Commuter students are taken into account, so PC Dukes and Festival were opened to accommodate them,” Hoshower said.
Living off campus can pose a problem for commuters who rely on their meal plans.
“I try to make it to campus if possible,” junior Kim Allen said. “It’s a waste of money for me to not use my punches just because it’s snowing.”
The opening of dining locations also requires employees to be able to make it to campus. The employees of closed locations are moved to support those that remain open.
“We provide hotel rooms at the Days Inn and Hampton Inn to those employees who cannot get to work,” Hoshower said. “There are many student employees that already live on campus, so we really count on them during snow days.”
The 18 inches of snow that covered Harrisonburg forced students to trek through the snow to get to open locations.
“We looked at where our services are needed most and how much snow we’re getting, and then decided to open Mrs. Green’s for dinner because students that live in Lakeside dorms may not be able to get to other open locations like D-Hall,” Hoshower said of Friday’s changes.
Since all freshmen live on campus, they don’t have many food options other than JMU dining facilities.
“It just gets frustrating being a freshman on campus because most of us don’t have a car and have to walk far away to find a dining hall that’s open,” said Tori Rogers, who took advantage of Mrs. Green’s extended hours Friday.
Decisions concerning the opening of locations are made on a day-to-day basis depending on current weather and road situations.
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