A discussion about the service practices of UDCC has been long in coming but, with luck, is not too late. Efficiency is lacking and hygiene can be questionable at times.

Let me start by telling a story.

As usual — at lunch on Monday, Wednesday and Friday — my girlfriend and I are less than satisfied by the selection, and settle for some mediocre go-to items.

As we eat and have pleasant conversation, a dining center employee — different, every time — starts a journey to the tables to refill napkin holders. No problem; I like to see work getting done.

Everything is kosher, right?

Wrong. All of the tables are occupied as the worker leans over their trays, without permission, to refill the holders.

On the first two occasions, I am in too much shock to react. On the third, I am prepared. I see the employee start to refill the napkin holders and as she or he approaches my table, I politely raise my hands and say, “No thanks.”

Instead of moving on to the other tables, he or she smiles and ignores my request. The napkins are placed in the basket on the opposite side of the booth. Appetites gone, two full plates — mine and my girlfriend’s — end up going to the dishwasher.

How is this acceptable? Not only is it rude, but it goes against all instincts of hygiene that I possess. With the H1N1 virus spreading in central Iowa, I am doing my best to avoid unnecessary contact with strangers.

Okay, now you — assuming you don’t eat at the UDCC — might be thinking that this is likely the only practice this unreasonable at UDCC; you would be wrong. Have you ever been at the doors when the lunch period begins?

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I leave my last morning class at 10:50 a.m. and I high-tail it to UDCC to beat the rush, an impossible endeavor. As I climb the stairs with 20 others, I try to guess whether the line is closer to the top-right or top-left staircase. When I get to the top, I see that only one dining center employee is at the door to swipe cards.

Now I have to decide whether to stand by the door that is still closed and hope it opens quickly or place myself at the end of the already-long line to the current card-swiper.

Knowing that I have no luck, I get in line; others choose to wait in front of the closed door. As you might have guessed, the other door opens before I get to the front of my line and people who arrived after me enter the cafeteria. What the … ?!?

At 10:50 a.m., when classes are getting out, both doors should be opened simultaneously and start swiping cards. This would prevent the creation of two lines before even 10 minutes of serving had occurred.

Even if you are a patient person and fear no germ, you can be disappointed. On any given day, you have a one-in-five chance of seeing a popular food at any station. Ask anyone what the most popular pizza is and they will answer with either meat lovers’ or pepperoni.

Ask anyone who dines at UDCC what the most popular “Country Cuisine” items are and they will tell you mashed potatoes, beef, chicken crepes, wings, mac and cheese and ham loaf. Similar examples can be provided for the other stations.

The sad part is that when you see one of these, you are likely to see multiple.

Why not share the most popular dishes over several days and allow students, who pay more than $8 per meal, to get their money’s worth? Because UDCC has seen that they can decrease food consumption and save money by offering favorites only one day per week.

Please, university dining administrators, do not disappoint students further by taking trays away. How do I carry two drinks — necessary, because of the tiny glasses — silver ware, and dishes? How do I carry them to the conveyor when I am finished? I, for one, wouldn’t even try.

—Ben Potter, senior in mechanical engineering