The Pub’s menu changed for several reasons. Pub Manager Mary Odhiambo desired to improve speed of service, staff training and ease of cooking for student workers. She said “I have over 80 workers in the Pub this quarter so you can imagine the amount of training. Also many of these workers may only work a two hour shift once a week, so it is difficult to really learn all the things needed to work in the Pub.” Odhiambo reasoned through the Pub’s menu changes from an all-inclusive perspective. She looked at the needs and preferences of student workers and customers as a whole. The diversity of work experiences among the student Pub workers makes the training process challenging. Odhiambo also said, “You have such an overturn of students.” Thus, consistent food choices are crucial to speed of service and productive staff training. Without the hassle of educating new Pub workers about nitty-gritty sandwich concoctions, cooking is now much easier. These structural changes also make the Pub congruent to menus found in mainstream restaurants.

The loss of the “Create Your Own” stirs opinions among not only customers, but among Pub workers as well. Junior Lily Jones, a student Pub worker, said “There’s a level of fun in preparing food that’s been diminished.” Pub staff members used to thoughtfully tailor their cooking skills to satisfy the customers’ specific preferences.

According to Jones, speed of service stands unaffected by the recent menu changes. The present issue rests in a reoccurring shortage of certain food items and of space in which to cook these items. This problem stems from customers ordering the same foods over and over again. Jones said: “I kind of understand the idea of [changing the menu to decrease] the amount of time it takes to do things, but now everyone’s just ordering the same thing. Now we have six quesadillas down, and there’s no room to do that on the grill. When people order a lot of the same thing, it ends up taking the same amount of time.”

An exchange with another student Pub worker revealed a unique insight. Sophomore Pub worker Ifi Xifre Villar said: “I don’t think it’s [menu changes that are] a problem. I’ve never been in a situation where people have hated the menu.” Most staff members stated that the Pub is not losing favorability due to menu changes. However, Xifre said, “I work the same shift I used to work last year, and we seem to be getting less people coming in.” It is possible that customers have been taken aback by the pub’s removal of “Create Your Own” sandwiches. However,  the addition of the Convenience store could also be contributing factor to this decrease in the Pub’s traffic.

Over the years, the Pub has undergone many restructurings. During winter break 2002, the Pub went through a massive renovation. A substantial amount of thought and care went into remodeling the countertops, seating arrangements, soft seating area and awnings. These renovations, along with the ability for students to be able to charge to their meal cards, versus the once cash only payment method, made the Pub all the more inviting. Since the inception of these changes, the pub has continued to be a popular hot spot on campus. Its mouthwatering milkshakes are the prime attraction among students. Odhiambo said “We recently added New York style cheesecake topping and Kit Kat pieces.”

In discussing points of menu development and overall restructuring, Odhiambo said that “We want to continue to move forward in being more green.  We’ve made changes already and we’re continually looking and trying to do what we can to have things be as green as possible.” Except for boats and small cups, the pub distributes biodegradable and environmentally friendly cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons et cetera. This change is concordant with current Green efforts and reflects Dining Services’ desire to be innovative and forward-thinking.

Odhiambo has heard little to no feedback about the menu changes. She invites emails with questions, perspectives or other ideas that will help sustain the positive atmosphere of the Pub.

Dan Post // photo

Freshman Cristina Post considers her ice cream options, while freshman Liza Hagerman works the cash register.

A crowd of students, faculty, and staff attended the Grand Opening on Wednesday. A variety of students expressed their views on the store: Junior Margaret McElfresh said, “I think it’s brilliant … I feel like I need a bigger fridge now that there’s stuff to put in it.” Freshman Katie Stewart said, “Well, they have Ben and Jerry’s, so I’ll be back a lot.”

Supervised by Dining Services Manager Brian Day, the store is student-run. Senior Katie Sydness, the recent Dining Services Representative, said, “In one day we filled all the shifts to work the convenience store – as soon as the email memo went out, we had a line outside Human Resources.”

One student worker, freshman Xandra Kenney-Blumer, said, “I’m excited to work in the Convenience Store because a lot of people seem to have been wanting it for a while, so it’s fun to be part of something that so many people have been waiting for.”

The store is designed to be environmentally friendly. On Opening Day, Brian Day told a student, “You can save five cents off your transaction as a way of saying thank you for using reusable bags.” Freshman Katie Hynd said, “The fact that it’s organic makes me really happy.”

Dining Services Director Lance Thornton said: “[From] recycled glass countertops to the biodegradable bags that we’re using, to the reusable organic cotton bag that we’re selling, we want it to be green and sustainable. We’re trying to sell organic products and natural products, but we’re also trying to sell the things that people want.”

Sydness said, “This is a student store so your opinion about what you want in it matters.” Thornton said, “You’ll hear us in there going, ‘What is it you’re looking for?’ because if we can carry it, we will.”

At the store, you can pay with a meal card, cash, credit card, or check – “anything except IOU,” joked Thornton.

Sophomore Patty Harber said, “People are going to rack up money on their meal cards.” Sophomore Dana Gaubatz said, “I think it’s going to save people a lot of money. They’re going to buy the stuff they need, and it will make meals more efficient.”

Thornton added, “We need students to use wisdom … We’re providing a service, but our goal is not to run up people’s charges. Our goal is to supply a need that wasn’t supplied before and to create more happy people.”

“We’re just very excited because we’ve felt for a very long time that it was a right idea,” said Thornton.

“In varying degrees, [the idea for the Convenience Store] has been in the works for about eight years,” Thornton explained. “It really grew rapidly once we were able to get a strong communication tie from the student government; that’s when things really started to happen.”

Sydness said, “We wanted a third option. We had the Scramble Room, we had the Pub, but there was something more that the students needed.”

Thornton said, “Our goal is to service as many people as we can: community members, people who live on campus that don’t want to run up to Schnucks and Walmart. Can we compete with some of the pricing? Probably not, but we can save you on gas.”

The Convenience Store was not designed to turn a major profit. “We are out to break even and make sure the place pays for itself,” said Thornton.

Thornton said, “Many people have supported this in order for it to happen.” Thornton explained that the development of the Convenience Store involved work from Student Government, Dining Services, the President’s Office, Facilities, Human Resources, Telecomm, IT, Housekeeping, and Flex Crew.

“Facilities played a huge role in supporting what needed to be done in the time frame that it needed to be done to get this open this quarter because it could have easily been knocked back to the fall,” said Thornton.

Thornton said of Dining Services, “We’re moving forward with plans and ideas that will move us in line with what other colleges and universities are doing, and the C-Store is a good sign of what that is.”

He added, “Our big goal is that … people walk away feeling like ‘Wow, that really was convenient!’”