PAGE 2
LANCE
MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1985
SAGA and St. Andrews:
BY ERIC ENGLISH What’s the Beef?
SAGA bears the brunt of many com
plaints by St. Andrews students. They are
easy to make-especially about “college
food services”. . . .That is why SAGA fre
quently has to leave a college approximate
ly every four years. Students get sick and
tired of a lousy food service, and set about
to have the contrasted service scat. Time
could be up for SAGA here at St. Andrews,
but that is not likely. If the complaints were
really justified, SAGA would have long ago
been replaced. Since SAGA and St. Andrews
are going to be buddies for a while, a few
complaints from both sides should be
discussed for the sake of cooperation.
“The food stinks!” is a reasonable ap
proximation of one type of complaint from
many students. Perhaps there are reasons
other than rashness for initiating such a
complaint. A few students are taking action
and looking into the matter. The manager of
SAGA, Steve Tuchten, reminds us that a
Food Committee exists and that each dorm
should have a representative. “Students
should understand that things can be chang
ed,” he says. . .Complaints are not heard
because the students, “don’t tell the right
people.” Steve wants to hear your com
plaints so he can make things better for all
of us.
A tit for tat. Now a complaint from
SAGA! There is far too much serving
material being taken from the dining area!
Last year, for example, SAGA spent $12,500
for china, salad bowl and silverware
replacement. It is unlikely that SAGA
employees break that much all by
themselves. During the winter term of this
year, 500 bowls disappeared. A 56 cents
apiece that rounds off to 250 big ones. There
were 517 students registered for board, and
an average of 400 ate at SAGA everyday.
Simple arithmatic dictates that each person
took roughly 1V4 . It should appear obvious
that SAGA’S complaint is well justified.
Perhaps if the stealing stopped, the quality
of the food would increase. Out of 412
colleges, St. Andrews is unique in SAGA’s
eyes. That ought to be good with the admis
sions office, but it isn’t. Steve explains,
“no other college allows students to walk so
freely in and out ot me dining hall doors
with china and other valuable utensils.” All
other schools have enclosed outside dining
areas. Steve says there are more eatine
utensils outside, than in!” St. Andrews is
“paying the price” for an “Honor Code that
doesn’t work.”
Another complaint one hears about SAGA
is: “Why do we have to be on food service?”
SAGA has nothing to do with this policy,
because the other side of the lake is respon
sible.
SAGA is only contracted by the business
office to feed “X” amount of students, and
SAGA makes its money by scraping off the
big savings from the percentage of meals
missed by students. Right now there is
about a 68 percent attendance. St. Andrew’s
budget is “not available to the public,” said
business office head, Jerry Surface, so it is
not possible to get a feel for SAGA’s “big
profit”. Steve said, “the money is across
the lake.” So if you don’t want your beef,
don’t so to “those other places”, so give it to
the business office.
Steve complains that the facility is out
dated. The electric bills are $30,000 per
month, and the old electrical appliances are
not efficient. Take, for example, the
dishwasher; not only does it break down
often, it was installed backwards! If it were
set right, one of the extra dishwashers (the
human variety) could keep the great salad
bar stocked, or mop up the gallons of sprite,
which periodically spill out of the cranky
dispenser. SAGA only supplies the person
nel and the food, not the necessary equip
ment to run an efficient food service.
Perhaps if the business office refurbished
the facilities at the dining hall, students
would eat there more often instead of Wen
dy’s.
SAGA (which was founded, incidentally,
in 1948 by three students at Hobart College,
who took over the cafeteria there and ran it
at a profit) is a shortening of Kanadesaga,
the Indian name for Geneva, which reminds
me of that neutral city in beautiful
Switzerland. This editorial was intended to
model that sensible neutrality, but I feel the
real cause for complaint lies with those who
choose not to do anything about their beef
with SAGA.
Generations
To Compare
Visions
BY DAVE SNYDER
Visions of the world will be
the topic of discussion and
discovery on April 14 in the
Belk lounge at 2:00 p.m. After
attending a weekend seminar
with a foursome of former ac
tivists, a group of twenty St.
Andrews students will share
with other students and faculty
the shared or differing visions
and dreams held by today’s
students and the activist
generation.
The theme for the weekend
seminar is “A Transfer of Vi
sion.” The idea arose last
November when Harry
Daniels, a member of this four
some, found himself reminisc
ing about the dreams he had for
the world when he was a stu
dent, without any knowledge of
what the dreams of contem
porary students must be.
Daniels is from South India,
and has arranged a similiar
series of seminars in India.
Daniels and Ed Brown, another
participant in this seminar,
decided to try the idea in the
United States and chose St. An
drews as the inaugural in
stitution.
Brown is a former civil rights
activist who joined forces with
King in the 60’s. The other two
participants in this seminar are
Clyde Robinson, an executive
with the Presbyterian Church’s
higher education program and
Bob Martin, St. Andrews’ col
lege pastor.
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