September 16, 1997

Dialog on Vending

Over the summer, City Council's consideration of a proposed ordinance on food carts and trucks in campus-area streets (Almanac May 6) was postponed by its sponsor, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, to allow for a campus dialog.

A brochure has been created (above) and a website established (www.upenn. edu/foodplaza), the latter giving the proposed ordinance in full, with a map of proposed locations for clusters of vendors and a list of organizations known to have a stake in the process. All are expected to be involved in dialog with Synterra Ltd., the consultant to the project, said Vice President Carol Scheman.

 

'Prof to Lunch': Year Round

For years the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE) sponsored a program in which, for a week in spring, students were encouraged to invite their favorite professors to lunch.

Now, in a new arrangement with the Faculty Club, SCUE makes taking a prof to lunch a year-round program.

Either the student or the faculty member must reserve in advance a table in the "SCUE Lounge" area of the room known as the Hourglass Grill Room (beyond the more formal Hourglass Dining Room that wraps around the first-floor Burrison Gallery). They order from a menu that has been specially adapted so that a flat price of $7 is within students' meal-plan rates. They can also pay cash. And, faculty can take students to lunch in the SCUE Lounge, using the special menu.

Before lunch the area remains open to Club members for coffee and rolls, and after lunch it reverts to table space for the Hourglass Bar. Early evening, the Organizational Dynamics buffet for its students continues. But there is also a new "Light Fare" menu for the Hourglass Bar, featuring sandwiches and finger foods ranging from $4.50 to $5.95.

These changes were developed over the past year in line with Faculty Club Board decisions to explore ways to increase interaction with students, Manager Dan Sullivan said. Consistent student involvement began two years ago when the Club's second-floor cafeteria became the site of kosher evening meals for students, in cooperation with Hillel.