Sucky Sutter strikes again with the salamander scandal and no measures seem to have been taken to improve the dining hall.
Though the incident is laughable, it brings the major question to the front line: How many incidents and student complaints need to occur before the Housing and Food Service Office changes its game?
In the last two years, The Orion has published six articles highlighting issues with Sutter Dining— Issues ranging from lack of acknowledgment toward students with allergies to food quality in general have been reported.
Ever since Sutter Dining was called out for the amount of waste it produces and its 99 percent fake food, the staff has been very concerned with its image and sustainability, but haven’t shifted any attention to the cries of Sutter Dining’s consumers.
The Housing and Food Service Office needs to step up and start acting in coalition with its public relation attempts. If the department wants to stand behind its efforts for sustainability and quality, it needs to take the students’ concerns seriously.
Firstly, the staff needs to be more attentive to immediate issues with food quality, such as the salamander. The reaction of, “Eh, this happens all the time,” was beyond unprofessional and careless, and if students are swiping for meals valued at $10 per plate, they should be getting quality service too.
Secondly, students should be fairly compensated if they aren’t given the service and quality they are paying for. Offering a student a ‘new salad” after they find a dead salamander in a buffet-style dining hall is comical.
Finally, if the dining hall continues to encourage students to leave comments and suggestions at the end of each semester, these suggestions need to be incorporated into its practice.
Despite students paying top dollar for dining packages before the semester begins, they are deciding more and more to spend money they saved on different food sources because the quality isn’t worth the money they have already spent.
Students should feel satisfied with their dining hall experience, and amphibians should remain in the creek.
