SA Dining Services Committee

Student Assembly Dining Committee October 16, 2007 5:30–7:00 P. M. Hughes Dining, Myron Taylor Hall

1. Call to Order by Mark

2. Roll Call

Mark Coombs, Ahmed Salem, Mazdak Asgary, Joshua Tabak, Anna Bauer, Prof. Joe Regenstein, Harry Ashendorf, Greg Mezey, Richard Anderson, Alex Berg, Nick Colangelo, Steve Miller, Michele Wilbur, Tony Kveragas, Victor Younger

3. Announcements and reports

1. Fro Yo
   1. Mazdak and Steve
      1. Product is less than the cost of current fro yo in Cornell Dining
      2. $6–7 / gallon vs $4–5/gallon, $12,000/year savings
      3. Consider the switching out — timing
      4. About 50 flavors
      5. 6,000 gallons/year
      6. Product is shelf stable, nondairy, dry, healthier — _ the calories, 50/serving
      7. North Star and RPCC
      8. Went with Achmed to Jason’s to taste— good flavor
      9. Pros — variety, health, costs
      10. Angel food cake and the Devils food are the best
      11. Purchasing — Sandy has contact and business information
      12. Drop shipped directly
      13. Will still have Cornell Dairy ice cream available
      14. Ice cream — soft serve at North Star and RPCC will be replaced
      15. Greg asked about West campus — machine is $10,000 — possibly reinvest savings — but told it was labor intensive, requires electrical structures (Steve estimated this at another $10,000)
      16. Joe — possibly put it at Jansen’s Market — Steve said it may be intrusive on sales of gelato
      17. Paula can look into getting it into West Campus so we can get more numbers and a better idea of plausibility
   2. Nutritional Info Update by Michelle
      1. Has done info session with freshmen — portion control, navigation of dining halls, answers questions via email (has had a lot)
      2. Getting information about labels for Freshtake items. Has student working with the program — a dietetics student — who’s double checking the labels.
      3. Next Wednesday at RPCC — rolling out Borilla Plus (whole wheat pasta), whole wheat pizza, and whole wheat cookies
   3. Wants to connect with chefs and work on balancing the menus
   4. Ahmed — questions — Q. attendance to the seminars A. ~30 at each Q. How was marketing done? A. It was in the orientation book and at the RA resource fair. Q. The nutrition labels — why isn’t it out yet. A. Checking accuracy of labels and coordinating the computer systems. Q. When’s Michelle to be done with nutrition linking? Printing labels? A. 3–4 weeks for nutrition and
   5. Dealt with a lot of food allergy and eating disorder issues
   6. Told by Steve that the labels will be on the products no later than the start of next semester (Spring 2008)
2. Olin Caf�
   1. Victor said that last Sunday (October 14th) was the first day that Olin was open with its expanded hours
   2. New hours are Sunday to Thursday until midnight
   3. From the business experienced this week, the new hours appear promising
   4. Victor mentioned that collaborating with the library went well.
   5. Also, Jansen’s Market is open until 1 a.m. for those people who really need a late night coffee

4. Unfinished Business

1. Meal Tickets
   1. Achmed and Mazdak used up the tickets from last year
   2. Tickets are given to members of the Dining Committee to allow patronage to the dining establishments that are discussed at meetings
   3. 60 per semester are available
   4. Mark said he will go through SA to get the necessary funding

5. New Business

1. Saying Goodbye
   1. Dr. Regenstein’s said his goodbye’s as he will be gone the rest of the semester
2. Cultural Education through Food
   1. Dr. Regenstein addressed the issue that cultural education must be done through food.
   2. Dining halls offer foods of many nationalities and cultures. The dishes should be accompanied with information about their origin and significance.
   3. Trillium was recognized as taking steps towards this already.
3. Campus Pub
   1. Mazdak spoke for Ryan
   2. Students would like to know the thoughts and opinions from dining on this issue
   3. Logistics still need to be considered from both sides — students and dining
   4. Achmed helped to define the pub — he would like it on campus to bring liveliness back and offer an alternative option to Collegetown and Fraternities for a weekend social scene
   5. Mazdak compared the pub to the ones at other Ivy League schools. He also mentioned that Dean Hubble is in favor of the pub at Willard Straight hall. Mazdak also asked about the previous Cornell pubs: Why did it close? Where was it before?
   6. Dr. Regenstein answered by saying it was in WSH and closed to the liquor age changing from 18 to 21. He also mentioned he drank his first legal beer there sitting next to a police officer. Another topic Dr. Regenstein brought up was the possibility of the pub being discriminatory for undergraduates who are under 21.
   7. It was also noted that the pub had previously been at Jansen’s and RPCC
   8. The liquor license is held by the University, not dining or catering
   9. Steve mentioned that risk management may be a hurdle
   10. Mazdak also said that to try to make the Pub nondiscriminatory strict controls must be enforced so all students may gather there. He also wants the pub to be classy.
   11. Greg noted that when the Committee talks about the pub in the future it should use a positive approach especially to fraternities and Collegetown
   12. Josh would like the alcohol compliance officer to come in and give his/her thoughts on the prospect of a campus pub. Achmed and Mazdak said they would take responsibility in arranging this.
4. Milk
   1. Mazdak - Are there any plans to switch to organic, antibiotic and growth hormone free milk?
   2. Dr. Regenstein noted that milk production is controlled by the animal science department and that there is no difference in conventional and hormone/antibiotic free milk from a scientific standpoint.
   3. Steve had previously talked with Cornell Dairy and has done research and priced the milk. He concluded that switching is not a good option for residential dining.
   4. Harry said he will research organic milk for the retail stores
5. Soup
   1. Madak mentioned that the soup at Bear Necessities and Jansen’s Market were not as good as those at Ivy Room, Trillium, etc. and wondered if it was possible to get Cornell’s freshly made soup into the venues.
   2. It was mentioned that the quality is variable with homemade soup and does not fair well when kept for 14–16 hours.
   3. In the past, this issue has also been explored and using fresh soups did not work for multiple reasons mainly due to quality.
6. Napkins
   1. Mazdak - West campus has high quality napkins while North has low quality, why is this and can we make it consistent?
   2. There are currently three napkin types on campus.
      1. West, Risley, 104 have 2 ply, 15×17 napkins because the residences are residential and therefore, the napkins should be more dinner like.
      2. MiniMore — RPCC and North Star — brown, thin, one ply, from recycled paper.
      3. Dispenser at other venues
   3. Why do we have three different napkins? A. Evolution
   4. Research will be done on the possibility of getting West’s napkins in North Star and RPCC.
   5. Financially negligible. They are the same price per person per meal.
   6. The napkins may have more of an environmental impact. It will be researched to see what the difference between bleached and unbleached napkins is in both environmental and financial aspects.
7. Soda prices
   1. Madak - There is inconsistency between the prices of soda at convenience stores and that in the machines, why?
   2. The average price for soda in Tompkins County is right about a $1.50 and when using BRBs at a store the price is $1.59
   3. Machine dispensed sodas should be higher in price but Pepsi is only allowed to make price adjustments in the spring and the increase has been staggered.
   4. There is an exclusive contract with Pepsi. Money comes back to Cornell.
8. Spring Water
   1. Ethos spring water will be carried starting in the spring
   2. For this semester, Dining will look into more spring water options.

6. Open Forum

1. Mark commended Mazdak and the dining team that handeled the frozen yogurt.
2. Next meeting review the tailgate, 104 West in regards to finances, the possibility of having breakfasts on Saturdays and Sundays on West before 10 a.m.