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University Daily Kansan Thursday. May 18, 1961
Women Neglect Ways to Improve Food
(Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of articles on the quality of and expenditure for university dormitory food.)
By Virginia Mathews
Women in the University residence halls, despite their complaints about food, are not utilizing the facilities available which will help them.
Instead of griping and complaining about the food to their roommates, the students can convey their likes and dislikes or positive suggestions to the hall dieticians through hall council appointed food committees, house committees and management committees. One hall has a volunteer committee.
ARE THESE committees being used by the seven dormitories on campus? The residents of men's dormitories are using the committees, but the residents of women's dormitories are not.
Betty Salters, head resident director at Lewis Hall, said:
"We have had a few complaints to the management committee, but not very many. The problem with our committee is that the girls on
the committee can't agree on which suggestions are most important."
Marcia Gray, graduate assistant and head of the house committees at Gertrude Sellards Pearson and Corbin North, said:
"The dieticians are coming to us for suggestions about the food. If they could find out what the students like or don't like, this would cut down on the food wasted and save money."
The committees have worked for the men's halls. Mrs. Lenoir Ekdahl, supervising dietician for the University dormitories, said that the dieticians had changed the endive in the men's salads after a meeting with the food committee.
JOSEPH R. PEARSON has the most effective committee. Mrs. Gary Skinner, housemother, said that the first food committee appointed by the dorm council did not work. She added that a new committee was established when some of the men in the hall volunteered to serve on a food committee.
"We had minor complaints but they added up. We got the endive in the salad changed after a meeting with the dieticians. The buckshot in the meat was explained to us by Mrs. Ekdahl. She told us that it was the fault of the Institutional Suppliers in Kansas City, but that she thought the cattle had probably been shot by hunters."
John Richardson, Wichita sophomore and a member of the JRP committee, said:
He added that the committee had placed a suggestion box in the lobby by the reception desk so that the men could put suggestions for food changes in the box. He said that the committee had one or two suggestions a week now.
Carruth-O'Leary uses door to door canvassing according to the chairman of their food committee. He said that the committee helped the dieticians plan the menus for the formal dinners. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
THE TEMPLIN MEN recently changed the dinners on Friday and Saturday nights. They had been having baked beans and wieners. They added a new salad dressing to the ones they already had. They did
The only dormitory on the hill that does not have a food committee is Grace Pearson. A member of the hall said that as it was a small dormitory of about 40 men, the men go to the house mother to turn in their suggestions. He called this "the committee of the whole. Jean Tice, the house mother, is also the dietitian." He said that every one in the house thought that the food was too greasy, even soups and chite.
not have both maple and caro syrup with waffles for breakfast because not enough men preferred the maple syrup.
Students interviewed by the Dairy Kansan felt that a food committee would be very effective. Some of the students did not realize that such committees existed.
The students could make suggestions to the dieticians individually. Each student could tell the dietician what he or she liked or disliked. But this is not as effective as suggestions from food committees.
MRS. EKDAHL and the dieticians agreed that communication was the biggest problem with dormitory food. The students who sit in the
dormitory halls or in rooms complaining about the food do not think to make suggestions to the committee according to the survey. Some did make individual suggestions.
Mrs. Ekdahl said that the individual suggestions were not as valid as those coming from a committee.
"I think the students should have a voice in what is being served. We only hear from the students who work in the cafeteria or the ones who are more vocal in their opinions. We do not hear from the other 95 per cent of the students.
"I think the food committee is the best solution. The girls who have doctor's permission for special diets can talk to us individually."
Disappointing, What?
LONDON — (UPI) — The Town Council has canceled Camberwell's annual summer beauty contest for lack of entries, even though the girls are no longer required to wear bathing suits.
"The testival committee has decided girls are really no longer interested," a puzzled councilman said.