Spring Break
Stolen dishes may lead to costly meal options
Tower Dining Center left to use other halls' dining items because of thefts
Brittini Garcia/Campus Editor
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News
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Jamie Huckstead, assistant director of Stevenson Tower Dining Center, said a student worker for dining was hired with several responsibilities last summer, one being to watch dishes that could be taken.
This position is only in Stevenson Tower Dining because of missing items not returned.
Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining, said the total number of missing items has not been tallied.
He said they would not know how much money has been lost because of stolen dishes until the end of the semester.
Hudson said it is safe to say stolen dishes have added up to thousands of dollars.
Huckstead said based off beginning inventory of new products through about a month ago shows Tower Dining losing items.
"Nearly half of all deli baskets, glasses, plates and trays have been removed from the dining center and not returned," Huckstead said.
The new position is called the dining room assistant.
The assistant helps clean tables, chairs and an area of the conveyor belt where students can put their dishes.
"As of right now, no other dining center has this position, mainly because they already have employees located in the dining room," Huckstead said.
Stevenson dining has seven different exits in the area that have allowed students to get away with bringing dishes out of the dining center.
"Tower is a unique dining room area being that most of the items being served are behind the serving lines," Huckstead said. "We have a much smaller salad bar area than the other dining centers, which would require student workers to be in an area where they could also monitor (dishware) being taken out of the dining centers."
Cameras are in the process of being installed in Stevenson Hall. Hudson said the cameras would be able to watch over students taking dishes.
"Once an employee sees someone leaving the center with dishes, they are to go up to them and give them a warning," Hudson said. " It's expensive, and we want to educate them."
Because so many dishes have not been returned, there are amnesty boxes on each floor of Lincoln, Douglas and Stevenson halls for students to anonymously return items they have taken.
Hudson said, about eight years ago, the dining centers went to all plastic, but realized the price was going up and they do not want to go back to that.
"It is disappointing that we are trying to be more 'earth friendly,' yet it will end up costing the dining center and Panther Dining in general much more money due to the loss of equipment and ultimately end up costing the students more," Huckstead said.
As of right now, Stevenson's dishware is borrowed from other dining halls.
"Students need to understand they need to work with us to keep the meal plan cost down," Hudson said.
Brittni Garcia can be reached at 581-7942 or at bmgarcia@eiu.edu.
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