The University of Puget Sound, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak has turned the rest of the semester into a virtual phenomenon. The university has been accommodating, and more lenient in terms of finances and academics for students. Yet, campus life for the students who chose to stay on has drastically changed; resources that were available for students prior have been depleted and have limited hours. The Diner, which previously encompassed: Wok, Grill, Deli, Pasta, Allergy Friendly, Chef’s Table and Tortilla station has now been reduced to Pasta and Chef’s Table. Having only these two stations with the same rotation of food choices, you get tired of eating there quickly. This reduction has impacted the variety of food options available for students, and it makes me concerned for anyone who relied heavily on the Allergy Friendly station.

Much of the student population who utilized the Diner have been forced to purchase groceries and order out, while their dining dollars sit unused. If the university knew this was how the Diner was going to function, they should have provided a refund option for the students on campus which would allow students to make purchases of food for themselves, it can be expected that many students will have large balances of unused dining dollars at the end of this year, and the university policy would only allow $25 out of the remaining dining dollars to transfer over to the next semester — It would be plausible to have more of the unused dining dollars transferred than to let it waste away as semester comes to an end. Students pay for their dining dollars, who gets to keep what is left over? The University? What do they do with it?

The Cellar in the Sub? Yes, We Just don’t have the Good Stuff

 Are you missing the Cellar pizza? Or maybe your favorite beverages from Diversions, Oppenhimer and Lillis Cafe? While we appreciate and value non-student employees (bless their souls) for their service, this pandemic has truly shown how much we miss the access to, and the vitality of, our student staffed resources on campus. It is more noticeable now than ever that student employment is needed in the various campus food places in order to sustain them to their fullest extent. Or the university needs to provide more funds to pay additional staff. I know some of us students on campus might be reminiscing about the good ole days at the Cellar, how we would like to indulge and savor the taste of pizza or a Moose Track smoothie — I know I sure am.