By Brian L. McDowell | CHIMES Advisor

As someone who has reached the age where his next significant gastronomic event will probably be the
Earlybird Special
at Denny's, I think Morrisville's food service is quite good.

I often tell my students that if they don't like college food, they should wait until they have been on their own and cooking for themselves for, say, five years. Invariably, they argue that time won't change a thing.

That's when I remind them to invite 2,800 people over for every meal.

"Food? Good. Variety? Huge. Service? Better than at most places,

and nobody sitting next to you is hitting a

screaming 4-year-old.

I read with interest the article that appeared in the last E-News on Oct. 4, titled Campus Food Review.

Okay, I had to read it. I read all the stories that go in The CHIMES.

Anyway, as someone who has reached the age where his next significant gastronomic event will probably be the Earlybird Special at Denny's, I think Morrisville's food service is quite good. I especially disagree with the part that reads,

"Overall, dining at Morrisville State is serviceable but mediocre. If you want good food and professional service, go to a restaurant."

Now, it has never been suggested that I have skipped too many meals, and nobody has to pressure me to mix in a T-Bone with all that salad. Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to food, I never shrink from the challenge. Still, even 'quantity' guys like me know something about food quality.

I've worked at Morrisville for 21 years, and in my time, I've seen every kind of food service you can imagine. As a SUNY student in the late 70s and early 80s, I lived through the institutional food service era when trays traveled down a single line to be littered with limited entrees of widely varying temperatures--and there was nary a salad bar, sandwich line, or grill to be found.

I often tell my students that if they don't like college food, they should wait until they have been on their own and cooking for themselves for, say, five years. Invariably, they argue that time won't change a thing.

That's when I remind them to invite 2,800 people over for every meal.

And by the way, kernel corn with nothing on it? Just as the Good Lord intended.

Like most long-time Morrisville employees, I marvel at the growth of Dining Services during my tenure here. From two dining halls and one sparse grill line, campus dining has grown to include a full-service snack bar at the IcePlex and a 'grazing-style' dining hall that accommodates more students than both of the old dining halls did--combined. There is a coffee bar with juice and other drinks, not to mention the kinds of baked goods guys like me dream about. And there is Laptop Cafe, a place I frequent the most because it is located on the north side of campus and is a quick-and-easy place to pick up a sandwich or a hot daily special and eat it while checking email, working on lecture plans, or meeting with students.

As for the help, let me say this: If student-workers are sometimes less than gracious, if they care less than customers think they should, one need only venture a few miles to the nearest grocery store or WalMart to see that this is standard operating procedure in American business. I can't begin to count the number of times I have languished in a 'box-store' line while listening to two disgruntled employees gripe about their work schedules, their bosses, their not-so-significant others.

'Twas not always thus. When I was of college age, I worked in such jobs, and I can say that complaining, discussing one's work schedule, or otherwise acting disinterested in front of customers was a fireable offense. But those days are gone, and unless management in this country decides to rededicate itself to customer service, the student-workers at Morrisville will continue to be no worse--and generally a lot better-- than workers in full-time jobs at most popular restaurants.

Food? Good. Variety? Huge. Service? Better than at most places, and nobody sitting next to you is hitting a screaming 4-year-old. (I will admit that I agree with my writers that students who sit next to me often seem to be unaware that the volume of their Jerry Springer-like, obscenity-laced conversations. Which makes it hard for an old guy like me to think, must less talk. But campus civility is an entirely different column.)

I'll add that the full-time Dining Services workers, those people who have served more catered events--and sweet corn--than I can remember and have always done so with smiles and genuine concern for their customers, are to be praised along with the chefs and the rest of the staff.

And now, if you'll excuse me, someone said something about stir-fry at Seneca. And you know what they say about the early bird....