This letter is in regards to policy at the ISU Dining Service. Many students have complaints of the service, and/or food there, based on a few rules that apply in dining halls, but I have one in particular that is a small problem that outlines a larger principle.

For lunch today I stopped by the fruit counter to ask if instead of having a brown pineapple juice-soaked apple, I could merely have a whole apple. As the guy serving up the fruit was grabbing me one, the manager in charge told him to stop because it was against the rules.

Now, I can tolerate most problems with dining service because I understand it must be tough to serve the large number of students who eat there, but does that difficulty mean that all simple requests by students like me should become worthless and be overlooked?

This is not just about a single apple denied to me at one lunch. It is about the overall lack of respect to me and the employee. I mean, all the kid had to do was take two steps and hand me my “full apple” (which I had full intention to eat all of, or else I wouldn’t have asked), and I would have been extremely happy. Instead, he was stopped from doing so, and informed it is against the “rules” right next to me.

I think it is time for the rules to be looked over and more decision-making power given to student employees in our dining halls.

The little things like that go a long way, so why should it be so much trouble to comply with a small request? Some students want fresh produce that does not taste like other fruit, and is not turning brown.

Robert Bond

Sophomore

Electrical Engineering