Union Extends Dinner by Half an Hour

In response to complaints from many students, particularly upperclass athletes--that they frequently missed dinner, the Freshman Union remains open this year for an additional half hour, until 7:30 p.m.

But the students who asked for the extended hours aren't taking advantage of them, Dining Hall Service officials said.

Fewer than 100 students a night, almost all of them freshmen, have been eating during the additional half hour, according to assistant director of food services Benjamin Walcott.

Students said that one of the reasons they haven't been availing themselves of the extended hours is that the Union is too far from the upperclass houses and the athletic areas near the river.

"I eat there when I come home late from waterpolo tournaments on weekends," said Nicholas M. Branca '90. "But the upperclass team members] run into the kitchens in the houses. They're too lazy to walk up to the Union."

When athletes complained about the difficulty they sometimes had making it to meals last year, the Undergraduate Council's residential committee explored various solutions, including extending the dinner hour in several houses, said the committee's chairman Evan O. Grossman '87-88.

Food Service officials told the committee that keeping several houses open would be prohibitively expensive, but they agreed to extend the Union's dinner hour this year without charging students more, Grossman said.

The longer hours are costing Harvard more, because some Union dining hall workers must now be paid up to two hours of overtime, said Kay Diandria, assistant manager of the Union. Food Service officials would not give a precise cost for the extended hours.

Although the longer dinner hour may not be useful for upperclassmen, it has have had a positive effect on crowding at the Union as fewer freshmen eat during peak hours, said Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57.

On an average evening, more than 1400 people eat at the Union during the two and a half hour dinner period, Walcott said.

The residential committee will continue to look this year for new solutions to athletes' need for later dining hall hours, Grossman said.

"I think the real solution isn't keeping the Union open. It's inconvenient for upperclassmen. Ideally we would need only one or two houses to stay open," Grossman said. "But any one house is reluctant to take on the added burden [of longer hours.]"

Walcott said he doubted that house dining halls would extend their dinner hours. "That would be extravagant, because there doesn't seem to be much need," he said.