Planning and evaluation is needed before two campus snack bars will return to their former hours of operation, University Housing officials say. Edward L. Jones, director of University Housing, said there are a lot of things the administration needs to look at before any decisions can be made.

The level we are at now is a level at which we can manage, Jones said. But there are other things that we are working on now, and we’re trying not to be one-dimensional.

At the beginning of the month, Housing had a meeting to decide the future of the Saluki Grill and Lakeside Deli. Reports of students misusing the grills by buying non-food items on their meal cards led Housing to re-evaluate the grills, Jones said. He said the grills were also swamped with students using the facilities as alternatives to the cafeteria, making the grills difficult to manage.

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Housing’s final decision was to reduce the hours of operation at the two facilities from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. to the new hours of 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Peggy Corley, SIUC administrative dietitian, said she saw students walking out of the grill with packs of soda before the reduction in hours. Now that the hours are reduced, she said she sees the program working the way it was intended.

When we had our meeting, I do believe we set down and looked at the policies and how we could readjust them to make them work, Corley said. I think that by looking at the service we have now and evaluating it, we can then in the future increase the areas of service at the deli and grill that we can offer the students.

Last year, a meal plan option survey was given to students. The survey states that 88 percent of the students favored eating in the snack bars for lunch and dinner on their meal cards.

Beth A. Scally, coordinator of Marketing and Public Information, said surveys are not always reliable. She said the administration was not expecting such a large increase in business.

The validity and reliability of those surveys are not very high, Scally said. We knew business would increase. We did not think it would increase as much as it did. I think they have it under control now. It’s getting to a manageable point.

Evie Younger, sophomore and national communication coordinator for the Residence Hall Association, said re-evaluation of the facilities is needed to see what will make the students happy and what will work for the administration.

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Right now there can’t be anymore changes because it would not be for the good of the students or the administration, Younger said. We (R.H.A.) will evaluate at the end of the semester. I think people are starting to get used to it (the changes) now.

Corley said she is constantly evaluating the snack bars and feels they are doing a better job now.

I just went to evaluate them today, Corley said. I look mainly at their clean-up procedures and sanitation, and it is much better now. I think that when they had the larger volume of business it was too much, and they couldn’t handle that. We’re not going to keep it closed forever, but we want to do it right.

The snack bars are constantly being looked at by administrators to see how they are working and how manageable they are, Jones said.

Evaluation is not a one time thing but an ongoing process that we monitor, Jones said. We are not against anything. The ideas implemented now are ideas that began last semester.

Some of the possibilities for the snack bars are opening them up during lunch again, and officials are looking into opening the Grinnell snack bar that has been closed for the last four years because of electrical problems and a lack of past student.

Younger now has a committee meeting every Wed. night at 7 p.m. to discuss the developing situations at the cafeterias and especially the snack bars.

Now that the administration reduced the hours, there have been complaints from student workers and students over the change in hours.

Harvey Welch, Jr., vice president of Student Affairs, said he has not talked to any of the students who have been complaining about lost hours.

None of those students who have lost their jobs have come forward to me for resolution, Welch said. If they did come forward, I would listen to their side and then the other side and try to make the best informed decision I can.

Right now, Housing is trying to concentrate on new ideas such as carry-out meals, continuous service and the declining budget, Jones said.

There are a lot of things going on right now that we’re trying to focus on, Jones said. We’re not against the grills, but we have got to do it well. At this point, we’re looking at what is working well, like the carry-out dining. We’re happy people are demanding the grills, but before we do anything we have to know that it will work well.